TMNT: The Foxling
by BBPRIMEFAN101
Summary: Michelangelo comes across a little girl with fox-like ears and tail and he takes her home, but there's more to this little creature than they think.
1. Chapter 1

The sun rose over the buildings of New York City. The sky went from navy to purple to pink to red orange. The sound of zooming cars awoke the oldest of the teenage mutant ninja turtles, Leonardo, earlier than his brothers and father, Master Splinter. Restless, he crawled out of bed and helped himself to some breakfast. He was a bit exhausted from last night's training session, but it was worth it. They learned new moves and defenses. They trained in the sewer tunnels, and while practicing, Leo eyed an abandoned tunnel filled with debris...and he had an idea that evening. The same idea buzzed in his mind, and when he first heard his father awaken, he jumped at the chance to explain his thoughts to his sensei.

"Think of it, Sensei, we could practice somersaults and flips we may need to use in combat," Leo explained, "and we could enhance our speed and agility...You think it's a good idea?"

"Leonardo, that tunnel is decades old, and is still destined to collapse," Splinter said. "There are many hazards there as well. Using a catastrophe waiting to happen to train...it is most unwise, my son."

"Aww, please, Sensei?! I promise at the first sign of a danger, I will take them out of there, and never return," Leo begged on his knees. "The guys would love it!" Splinter told him he would give it a little thought. The next hour, Leo and his brothers were racing through the decrepit sewer tunnel, laughing and chasing one another.

"You sure this is an exercise, Leo?!" Mikey exclaimed. "I'm having too much fun!"

Leo laughed. "Well today I wanted to make training a bit fun, and why not try it in a sewer tunnel full of obstacles?!"

"Leo, never thought I'd say this, but awesome idea," Raph shouted as he jumped over a large boulder.

"I knew you guys would like it," Leo said, beaming that his brothers enjoyed his idea, for once. He avoided pipes sticking out of the wall and the path in front of him, jumping off the wall and flipping over them.

"Ha! I can top that!" Donatello exclaimed, and he used his bo staff to pole vault over a large gap in the path, doing somersaults, and sliding across the concrete on the other side.

"Not bad, shell-fer-brains," Raph smirked, "but no one can top THIS!" He took a running start towards a large pile of boulders. Charging all of his strength into his fists, he jammed them into the pile, and the larger boulders cracked into much smaller ones, landing around and behind him. He screeched to a halt with a triumphant smile.

"Impressive, Raphie," Mikey said grinning, "but this is the ultimate move!" He eyed a pipe overhead, and pulling out his nun-chucks, he wrapped it over the pipe, a hand gripping on each handle, and he zip-lined down the pipe. "BOOYAKASHA!"

"Mikey that's not a move," Donnie said with a chuckle.

"Oh, well, it still looks fun," Raph shrugged, and he followed Mikey's lead, crossing his sais over the pipe and sliding down. "WHOO-HOO!"

Leo laughed and crossed his twin katana around the pipe and grinded down, picking up speed quickly. "C'mon, Donnie!"

"Guys, that pipe could give in under all our weight. It's not safe to do that," Donnie pointed out, still running and struggling to keep up with his brothers.

"WHAT?! I CAN'T HEAR YOU! HAVING TOO MUCH FUN UP HERE, YOU SHOULD TOO!" Raph shouted with a laugh.

Don knew he was right; it did look fun. Dangerous...but fun. He made up his mind; he leaped up to the pipe, laid his staff over it, gripped each end with a hand, and he glided down after his brothers. "WHOOPEE!"

The pipe went on forever, curving and twisting down many other tunnels, but the boys didn't seem to care. They didn't-until they heard a loud creak. Confused and startled, they didn't notice the pipe snapping at a weak, rusted point, and they were sent flying to the ground, landing with a thud.

"I...I told ya," Donnie groaned as he sat up.

"Ahh, shut up," Raph rolled his eyes, rubbing his head. "It only broke because of a rust spot."

"Yes, but our heavy weight made is snap," Donatello said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I'm not THAT heavy," Mikey frowned, crossing his arms as he sat on the rim of a large pipe sticking out of the wall.

"You wouldn't be if you didn't each so much pizza all the time," Raph chuckled.

"Okay, when did we start talking about weight?" Leo blurted out.

"When Genius-Boy here blamed the pipe's collapse on our heaviness," Raph smirked.

There was a shuffling noise, but only Mikey heard it. He perked up his head, startled, and began to search for the source of the noise.

"Whatever, I'm just saying we're lucky to not be seriously injured," Donnie pointed out.

"Oh, come ON, Don! It was just a little snap and a fall," Raph held his arms out to the side. "We didn't die! That's something right?"

"We could have," Donnie furrowed his brows.

"Hey, if we did, it's Fearless's fault for dragging us here," Raph pointed to the blue-clad turtle.

Leo scoffed, "Hey! I only wanted to make training more fun for us, and we did have a good time."

Raph wasn't listening; he was scowling at his youngest brother crawling on the ground. "Mikey, what in the hell are you doing?!"

"I keep hearing this noise, I'm trying to find out where it's coming from," Mikey said, peeking behind a rock. He heard the shuffle again, and quickly turned his head towards it.

Leo frowned. "Maybe you hit your head in the fall, Mikey. We don't hear anything."

"No, I didn't hit my head, and there is something around here," Mikey retorted. "Where is that noise coming from?!" He hopped on top of the pipe, making it clang. The shuffling grew louder.

"Okay, now I hear it," said Leo.

"I do too," Donnie said, puzzled.

Mikey then peered into the pipe, leaning into it, and holding onto the rim so he didn't slip in. The shuffling was loudest inside. "It's coming from in here...wait...I think I see something." He pulled out his T-Phone and lit the screen up. Using it as a flashlight, he shone it down the pipe until it reached the end. "oh, whoa!"

"What? What is it?" Raph asked.

"Something's back here! We need to get it out," Mikey exclaimed.

"But what is it?" Raph repeated.

"I dunno," Mikey shrugged. "Looks like an animal."

"Well, you're the animal expert, so you try and get it out," Leo said.

"Fine," Mikey said offended, and he got down on his knees at the mouth of the tunnel, and held out his hand into it. "Come here, little guy...we won't hurt ya, promise. We're friends." Mikey heard the little critter crawl down the pipe towards him. "That's right, come to Uncle Mikey." He saw a little hand. "What?...It's human?!"

"What'd you say?" Leo raised a brow.

"Just a sec." Mikey leaned back a bit to give the creature some space. "Come on out...don't be shy." The tiny critter crept out of the shadows and into Mikey's arms. He turned to his brothers, and their eyes widened. Mikey held a very small child, but this child had ears and a tail.

"What the heck is this?" Donnie asked. He observed the little thing. It was a small girl. She had muddy red hair, brown shirt and shorts, black tights underneath and she wore dark green socks. Her eyes were as brown as grizzly bear fur. Her "ears" and "tail" were a red orange, and the tail had a fluffy white tip. She just blinked at him, tilting her head to the side.

"It's a human...with a fox tail and ears," Leo said.

"Is it a mutant?" Raph asked.

"Doesn't appear so," Donnie furrowed his brows.

"Foxling!" Mikey exclaimed.

"...what?" his brothers said/

"I'm calling her a Foxling. You know, because she's real little, and she's part fox, so-"

"We get it," Leo groaned.

"Now, I wonder if you have a name," Mikey mumbled and gazed into the Foxling's eyes. "...Oh! I know. I'll call you Rinji. It's Japanese for 'special'. I can tell you are very special."

Raph scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Do you have a mammy or daddy, Rinji?" Mikey asked the little critter in his arms. She just looked at him confused and curiously.

"I don't think she can talk," Don said. "She may make noises like laughing or crying, but no words."

"Are you all alone?" Mikey continued asking, ignoring Don's theory. "You must be. Can we keep her?"

His older brothers exchanged glances and said simultaneously, "No."

Mikey was surprised. "Why not?"

"Mikey, we have no idea what this thing is. It could be a threat," Leo said.

"She's a Foxling, I told you that! And she's not a threat! She's too cute and small and innocent, like me," Mikey beamed.

"And strange," Raph snorted.

"Rinji is not strange!" Mikey snapped back.

"Oh, stop calling it that, that's a stupid name," Raph retorted back.

The Foxling named Rinji yawned and curled up in Mikey's arms, falling asleep peacefully. "Aww!" He stroked her head. "Ain't that the cutest thing?"

"Mikey, put it back where you found it. We're not taking it home," Leo declared.

"Stop calling Rinji an 'it'! And she needs us, she's all alone," Mikey held her close to his chest.

"We don't know that," Donnie pointed out.

"This is stupid! Just gimme the damn thing and I'll put it back," Raph stepped towards Mikey, but the orange-clad turtle backed away.

"No," he said, "I won't let you guys leave Rinji all alone."

"Mikey, hand it over."

"And stop calling her an 'it'!"

"Okay, I've had enough!" Raph leaped forward onto Mikey, who tossed the Foxling into the air. While the two brothers wrestled, Leo suddenly reacted and caught the small critter.

Her eyes filled with fear as she whimpered; she sounded like a baby fox. Leo tried not to show it, but he took pity. "Don't look at me like that, you...thing...For all we know, you could be danger-" He paused at the sight of tears in the little one's eyes. He stammered, unable to find the right words; Leo tried setting her down on the ground, but she clung to his body, then he just let out a sigh and cradled Rinji. "Guys...Mikey's right."

Raph and mike stopped wrestling. "What?" they both said, Mikey sounding happy, Raph sounding angry.

"Mikey's right," Leo repeated. "If this creature is alone then we need to care for it because we found it."

Mikey stood up. "Leo...stop calling her an 'it'. It's upsetting her!" He took Rinji in his arms.

"Or it could be because she nearly splattered all over the ground," said Don.

Mikey glared and cradled the Foxling. "If there were a play of the Wizard of Oz, you'd be perfect for Tin Man...ask me why. Go ahead."

Donnie sighed. "Okay...why?"

"Because you don't have a heart!" the youngest turtle bellowed. Then he held Rinji out to the intelligent turtle. "Tell me...does this look dangerous to you?!"

Rinji just stared into Donnie's eyes, her little body squirming in Mikey's grip as she swung her little legs and arms. Don realized something...he couldn't pull away. He took the Foxling into his arms and held her close. She raised a tiny hand and brushed it against his chin; he couldn't help but let out but a chuckle. Heaving a sigh, he said, "Okay, fine...we'll take her back with us." Mikey celebrated. "But!...But, if I see one single, solitary clue that proves she is a threat to us...we get rid of her." The little critter moaned in his arms. "Deal?"

Mikey sighed and nodded as Don handed Rinji back to him. "Hello, Rinji. Ya hear that? You're coming home with us." In response, Riniji perked her fox-like ears a bit higher, and she ruffled her tail.

"It is so not coming home with us!" Raph spat. "What will Splinter say?"

"Raph, when have you ever cared about what Splinter said?" Mikey smirked.

"That's true," Leo said.

"Sorry Raph, it's three against one. She's coming with us." Then, Mikey led the way back to the lair, happily prancing while cradling the little creature as she began to fall asleep again. Leo and Donnie were right behind him, and Raph muttering swears stayed in the back.

This rarely ever happened, especially for him, but he had a bad feeling about this.


	2. Chapter 2

**I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING TMNT RELATED!**

Summary: The turtles bring home Rinji the Foxling and explain what happened to Splinter, and right away they notice something off about the little creature.

"You sure you know where you're going, Donnie?" Leo asked as they trekked mile after mile through the sewer tunnels. "I don't remember any of this at all." They had been walking along the sewer tunnels for well over three hours, and Michelangelo was still holding onto the creature he called a 'Foxling'

"Well that's because we spent most of our time zip-lining down a pipe," Don replied, glaring at Mikey.

"Hey, it was fun, wasn't it?!" Mike shrugged. Their new little pet Rinji moaned and squirmed in his arms, curling up into a ball against his chest. "You're so cute when you sleep, you know that?" He smiled and rubbed her head.

Raph rolled his eyes and groaned. "I can't believe we're dragging that thing with us back home."

"Stop calling her a 'thing', Raph," Mikey spun around. "How many times do I have to say this, she has a name!"

"A stupid one," Raph grunted as he kicked a pebble aside.

"Oh? Like you could think of something better?" Mikey frowned.

"Yeah, I could, like: Freak, or Nothing," Raph laughed at himself.

Michelangelo gasped and shielded the little creature's ears. "That's not nice, Raph! If you be cruel to her, no doubt she'll be cruel to you."

"Ooh, I'm so scared of a half-human," Raph mocked.

"Okay, enough you two," Leo exclaimed, turning to his younger brothers. "We'll let Master Splinter decide about this."

"If we get home," Raph muttered.

"Hey, I have better memory than all you guys put together. I know where I'm go-WAH!" Donnie screeched to a halt as he stood on the edge of the large gap in the path.

"Okay, this I remember," said Leo. "...It was a lot smaller earlier."

"How am I gonna cross with Rinji?" Mikey said.

"Here's a thought," Raph spat, "Don't bring it!"

"Shhh! She's sleeping," Mikey shushed his hot-headed brother.

"I'll put you to sleep," Raph curled his fingers into a fist.

"Enough!" Leo hissed. "Let's pend less time arguing and more time on how we're gonna get across, okay?!"

"We could try the pipe again," Mikey said, earning him a smack in the head from the red-clad turtle. "OW! Hey, not while I'm holding valuable cargo!"

Raph smirked. "Okay." Then he snatched Rinji from Mikey and smacked Mikey harder upside the head, enough to knock him to the ground. He was ready to put Rinji on the ground when he noticed a scratch on her face. He blinked at the whimpering Foxling as she now stirred awake and watched small droplets of red seep through the scratch. He couldn't help but wonder if he did that, or if she did it to herself. She batted her big brown eyes and sniffled, curling her hands to mimic paws, and she began to paw at Raph's chin. "Oh, no! Don't you get all cutesie with me, you..." Raph suddenly lost the urge to call her 'thing', "you...ugh...you Foxling-whatever."

Rinji yelped; she even sounded like an actual fox, when she made animal noises that is.

"Ooh, you're smiling!" Mikey giggled and pointed. Raph was confused at first, then he noticed he was smiling; when did that happen, he didn't know. Trying to play it off, he handed Rinji back to Mikey.

"I was not!" He snapped. Mikey only grinned; he knew the truth.

"Okay, back to getting across," Leo said, gazing at the other side.

"We could do THIS!" Raphael did a wall-jump, and he skidded to a stop on the other side. "Ta da!"

Donnie blinked. "Yep, we could just do that." He followed Raph's lead and screeched to a halt, brushing the dirt off of him. Leo soon joined them on the other side, leaving Mikey with Rinji alone.

"Hold on tight to me Rinji," Mikey told the Foxling. She clung to him tightly, and he leaped over the edge and landed on the other side, skidding to a stop. "You okay, Rinji?" he asked the Foxling. She just tilted her head and perked her ears up as he sat her on the dirt.

"I bet she can understand us, just can't make words," Donnie inferred, but again, no one was listening. Meanwhile, Rinji patted the dirt pile she sat near by and flicked her tail. "Anyway, now that we're across, we can get home, and see what Splinter thinks of Mikey's new 'pet'."

They all watched Rinji play in the dirt, her fox tail covered in it. She scrubbed her face with her 'paws', unknowingly covering herself in dirt, and made herself sneeze.

Out of nowhere, a puff cloud surrounded the Foxling; the turtles jumped back, shielding themselves until the cloud cleared. When it did, they were in shock. Rinji was now an actual fox, covered in red-orange fur, white tufts of fur around her snout, a little black nose, and large eyes.

"Whoa..." Mikey gasped. "I knew she was special!"

"I'd prefer to call that strange," said Leo.

"Dude, she sneezed and turned into an animal! That's beyond strange, that's freaky!" Raph exclaimed. Rinji suddenly sneezed again, and the puff cloud returned; once it cleared, she was back to a small child with a fox tail and ears. "And she turned back into a human-fox thing, whatever."

Rinji just sniffled and coughed, rubbing the dirt off her face. Mikey giggled and scooped her up. "Aww, you no like dirt, do ya?" he cooed as he grazed his fingers over her tummy. She squirmed and giggled, the first human noise she made so far. She curled into a ball and shielded her tummy with her arms. "My God, you're so cute! Come on guys, how can you not find this adorable?"

"I'm sure I'd have different views about this if she hadn't suddenly turned in an animal and back," Donnie said bluntly.

"Let's get home. Mikey, quit tickling her!" Leo instructed and they headed down the familiar tunnel path.

Mikey gasped. "You didn't call her an 'it'! You do care!" Leo just rolled his eyes as they made their way back to the lair. Rinji fell asleep in Mike's arms again by the time the boys returned home.

"Mikey, come on!" Leo whispered as he and the others headed for Master Splinter's room.

"Just a sec." Mikey laid Rinji on his bed and wrapped her in a blanket, and tucked a pillow under her head. He patted her gently, then he raced to join his brothers. He knelt before his father and teacher as he entered the living area.

"My sons, you wanted to see me," the old humanoid rat said.

Leo stood up. "Hai, Sensei. You see, while we were exercising in the sewer tunnels, we...found something."

"Found something?" the rat furrowed his brow.

"Well, more like a someone, but we have no idea who she is or where she came from," Donnie added on.

"She?" Splinter said.

The turtles exchanged glances and all stood up. "Follow us," Leo said, and he guided everyone into Mikey's room, and he revealed the sleeping Foxling.

"What is this?" Splinter asked.

"I named her Rinji," Mikey beamed. "My idea. And she's a Foxling...also my idea."

Hamato Yoshi observed the small child's fox-like ears and tail. When he stroked them, the little girl reacted by twitching her ears, like any animal would do. "And you say she was alone?" The turtles nodded. Then, he laid a paw on her head and closed his eyes.

"what are you doing, Sensei?" asked Raphael.

"I am connecting with her mind," Splinter explained. "This technique will help me in discovering her past." He searched deep in the child's thoughts...but he found nothing. "She has no memory of her past...strange."

"You wanna know strange?" Raph blurted out. "Get this: when she sneezes, she turns into an actual fox. Pretty crazy, right?"

"Anyway," Leo said, changing the subject, "we brought her here to see what you think we should do with her. We have no idea if she could be a threat to us, or-"

The wise rodent stood tall. "She is a mere child. You assume her a threat?"

Leo took a second glance at Rinji. "N-Not really...but for anything, and-"

"It is decided," Splinter declared as he petted the Foxling's head. "Though I cannot quite sense it, this little one may have had a difficult past, and until we can find this unique being a proper and caring home...she will stay here with us."

While Mikey gasped gleefully, the others grumbled to themselves. "Aww, thank you, Sensei!" Mikey threw himself into his father's arms.

"You are in charge of tending to her, Michelangelo," Splinter said as he left the room. "You will care for her as though she were any regular child or pet."

"I never knew foxes could be pets," Donnie wondered.

"Well, she's not just a fox, Donatello," Mikey said as he played with the Foxling's ears. "She's also a little girl."

"Whom I still say shouldn't be here," Raph retorted. "Did it occur to anyone that there could be something darker behind that pudgy little face of hers?"

"It doesn't matter Raph, Sensei said it's settled," Leo said as he left the room. "I'm going to train."

Don left as well. "I'll be you-know-where if ya need me."

Raph scurried out of there. "I'll be anywhere else but here."

Mikey frowned deeply at his brothers' behavior towards his new little friend, then he focused his gaze on the slumbering creature and smiled. "Don't you worry, Rinji," he whispered. "I'll take good care of you, I promise. I'll feed and water you, bathe you, play with you, and put you to sleep. I'll maybe even take you to Central Park when no humans are around."

Then he paused for a moment. "I wonder what foxes usually eat..." Then, he made his way to the lab.


	3. Chapter 3

**I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING TMNT RELATED!**

Summary: The turtles have a bit difficult time getting used to their "new pet", and have to deal with her due to their father's orders. Life is unfair sometimes X3

Michelangelo carefully laid a bowl of berries between him and Rinji on his bed and waited for his new little friend to dig in. But she just stared at the bowl, tilting her head to the side. "It's food, Rinji," Mikey said. "You eat it. Look, see?" He plopped a berry in his mouth and chewed. "See, you eat it, then you swallow." He swallowed and revealed his mouth to be empty. "Try it, there berries are good."

Rinji blinked and slowly reached for her own berry; Mikey noticed she had only four fingers on each hand, and possibly four toes on each foot. She picked up a plump berry, observed it at different angles and sniffed it; it smelt sweet. Then Rinji mimicked the way Mikey ate his berry: chew, swallow, and even opened her mouth to show she ate it.

Mikey chuckled. "Yup! You ate a berry." He dropped a second berry into his mouth. Rinji copied him. "Well, ain't you a copy-cat." He stuck out his tongue, and so did she. "Well, more like a copy-fox."

"Michelangelo! Time for your training!" cried Master Splinter.

Mikey's smile vanished; how could he train and leave Rinji all alone where he's the only one who truly cares about her? He scooped her up in his arms and joined his father and brothers in the training room. They all frowned when they saw he brought his new "pet" with him.

"Michelangelo, I meant without your little friend," Splinter said.

"But Sensei," Mikey whined as he sat a fretting Rinji on the floor, "I can't leave Rinji all alone in my room. Maybe she could just play in a corner here or something."

"Mikey, what Sensei says, goes," Leo declared. "Put her back...where'd she go?"

Mikey looked around and saw she was gone. "Oh no! I've lost her!"

"I knew this would happen," Donnie groaned.

"What, you're psychic now? I thought you were Mr. Accurate," Raph joked.

Rinji had prowled on her belly as she caught eye of a long pink worm behind the rat. She thought it was a play toy, and she crept closer towards it. Then she pounced, but the worm suddenly shifted away from her. Rinji landed on all fours and searched for the long worm. She found it right behind her. She spun around and pounced, and missed again. This time the tail swooped over her head. She jumped up, trying to catch it, but she once again missed. After several attempts to catch the pink worm, and several failures, Rinji plopped down on her tail and panted. She heard the rat chuckle and looked up, and she realized the long pink worm was his naked tail.

Splinter brought the tip of his fuzzy naked tail and brushed her tummy with it. She giggled and toppled over, covering her belly with her arms, then had a bit difficulty sitting back up. Then she managed to grab the tip of the tail, and Splinter pulled her up so they could meet eye to eye. He stared into her big brown eyes and she stared into his large beady eyes. She let out a fox-like bark and pawed his snout. Splinter chuckled and handed her back to Mikey. "She may stay...but to only play in a corner, as you said."

"Thank you, Sensei!" Mikey exclaimed, and he stuck his tongue out at his older brothers, who just roll their eyes in response. He took Rinji to a corner next to a plant and told her to sit there. "Just until practice is over, Rinji, I promise." Then, the Foxling caught eye of a long chain with wooden sticks at each end. She leaped up and grabbed it, pulling it out of Mikey's belt. "Hey, that's my 'chuck!" Rinji held each end on the nun-chuck and looked at it. Letting go of one handle, she, let it dangle in front of her. She pawed it, and it swung back and forth. Her eyes went wide at her new discovery, and she did it again, and again, and again. Mikey laughed then turned to his father. "Sensei, could I practice with one of my nun-chucks for today's practice?"

Splinter thought on it. "Your weapon does seem to keep her busy...Very well, my son. You may exercise with one weapon for today." Mikey nodded and briefly took the nun-chuck; he wedged one handle into the wall and let the other dangle over Rinji, like a cat toy. She pawed it, and it swung like a pendulum. She gasped, another human noise, and pawed it again and again, pouncing side to side, trying it out from different angles.

Mikey chuckled as he joined his brothers. "Come on, you gotta admit, that is cute."

"I'll show ya cute," Raph grumbled.

"Yame!" Splinter approached his sons, but scorned to his three eldest. "You three need to start caring for Rinji the same way Michelangelo is. This child has nothing in her life, and depends on us."

"Sensei she only depends on us because Mikey brought her back here," Leo said.

"And good thing, too. She would have died in that sewer tunnel and none of us would know about it," Splinter scolded.

"And that's a bad thing?" said Raph. Then he got swatted in the head with Splinter's staff. "AAUGH!"

"You so asked for that," Donnie snickered.

Meanwhile, Rinji jumped up and down on all fours, swinging one arm to try and reach the other handle. Then she jumped into the plant pot and pulled on the handle. She succeeded in getting the nun-chuck out of the wall, but she landed back onto the dirt, and a cloud of mulch covered her. She coughed and sputtered as she squinted her eyes and tried to climb out of the plant pot.

"Rinji! You okay?" Mikey raced to her side and picked her up. She sputtered as she wiped her face and nose free of mulch dust. "You okay, Rinji?" She just sniffled and coughed in response. He helped wipe away the dirt from her face until she was deemed clean. "There. All better?"

"_Haa'Cshhhuh!_" Rinji sneezed. Then, a puff cloud exploded in Mikey's arms. When it cleared, he was holding a baby fox.

Splinter's eyes widened. "What in the world-?"

"Told ya. Freaky, huh?" Raph said. "She turns into that every time she sneezes."

"Well, it's not something she can help, Raph, it's just the way she is," Mikey retorted.

"And...how does she change back into human?" Splinter asked.

"The same way she turned into a fox," said Leo.

Mikey sat the fox on the floor and Rinji walked around on all fours. As a human, when she walked she just used two legs, but when she runs she goes on all fours. Rinji headed towards Master Splinter, sitting down on her tail in front of him. She tilted her head to the side and gazed at him from her new height. She flicked her fluffy tail from side to side as she sat up on her hind legs. She let out a bark, pointing her ears downward. Splinter chuckled and patted her head.

Rinji then trotted over to Mikey's brothers, first going to Leonardo. She rested a paw on his leg. "Oh, no, don't get cute with me," He said, and he pushed her paw away. But Rinji just put it back on again. Leo shoved it off again. "Quit it!" Rinji then nuzzled him like a cat. Leo fought a smile. "Cut it out...stop that!"

Rinji licked his chin and he laughed. "Okay, okay, you got me! Now stop!" Leo said. Rinji nuzzled him one final time then went to Donatello.

"Hello," he mumbled as he saw the Foxling approach him. She hopped up on her hid legs and rested her front paws on Donnie's shoulder. He carefully knocked her down. "No, stop that," he told her sternly. Rinji's ears pointed downward and she let out a slight whimper. Don sighed heavily. "Okay, fine." Rinji's ears perked back up straight and she leaped into Donnie's lap, brushing her tail against his side. "Hehey, cut it out. That tickles! Hahahaha!" Rinji let out a joyful bark and nuzzled him, then she crept up to Raphael, who looked displeased about her presence.

"What're you lookin' at, you?" He grumbled. Rinji gave him a confused look and tilted her head, letting one ear flop down. She took a few small steps closer to him, and he growled fiercely. She whimpered, tucked her tail slightly between her legs and backed away.

"Raph! How could you be so cruel to her!" Mikey scooped her up and hugged her. "She was just trying to get to know you!"

"Well maybe I don't want her to get to know me, or lick me, or nuzzle me, or get her hair all over me!" Raph snapped.

"Michelangelo is right," Splinter said as he took Rinji into his arms. "You must bond with this child so she may feel safe around you. There may be a time when she will depend on you for something."

"Hai, Sensei," Raph mumbled.

Master Splinter's fuzzy fur tickled Rinji's nose, making her sneeze again, turning her back into human form in the cloud of smoke. She coughed and blinked rapidly. Scrubbing her face, she fretted to get down, and Splinter sat her back on the rug floor. Then Rinji eyed a fork with three long tongues laying in front of Raphael. She gasped at her newest discovery and raced on all fours to them. She lowered her head and snatched one by the handle in her mouth and raced off with it.

"Hey! Get back here!" Raph chased Rinji out of the dojo and all around the living area, but she was too quick, even for him. But Rinji tired out as well and gnawed on the handle of the sai. Raph wearily snuck up behind her and yanked her tail. "Hey! That's mine! Give it back!"

Then, just as he yanked her tail, Rinji yelped and turned her whole body around, and then she sunk her teeth into Raph's hand. He let go instantly. "AAUGH!" He exclaimed and held his wounded hand. "What the hell was that for, you thing?!" Rinji cowered and fled under the couch.

The others raced outside. "What happened?" Don asked.

"I was trying to get my sai back and that stupid animal turned on me and BIT ME!" Raph exclaimed harshly.

"What?!" Leo said.

"Maybe she bit you because you may have hurt her, let's say by PULLING HER TAIL?" Mikey shouted. "And she's not stupid!" He went to the couch and got down onto his knees. "Come on out, Rinji. I won't let the mean, scary turtle hurt you." Then he heard crying from under the couch and his heart shattered. Mikey saw Rinji crying softly with her hands covering her eyes as she laid curled up on her tummy, her tail wrapped around her, and her ears against her head. Mikey fumed and turned to Raphael. "Look what you did! She's not a threat to us, you are a threat to her!"

Raph just glared and crossed his arms over his chest, wincing as the skin of his wound was pulled. Mikey pulled Rinji out from under the couch and cradled her. He hummed to her softly and rocked side to side. "Shhh, it's okay, Rinji. I'll take care of you." He glared at his brother out of the corner of his eye.

"Donatello, take Raphael to your lab and tend to his wound," Splinter instructed.

"Hai, Sensei," Donnie bowed his head and took Raph out of the living room and into his lab. There was a bit of an awkward silence as Don searched for the sanitary wipes and bandage wrap, and it continued as he cleansed Raph's bite wound with the wipes and covered it with the bandage wrap. But he broke the silence. "That really was unnecessary."

"What was?" Raph asked with a wince.

"Pulling her tail."

Raph scoffed. "Oh don't tell me you're starting to like her!"

"Not quite," Donnie said. "But Splinter's right, we do need to care for her while she stays with us."

"Then why don't we take her somewhere else?" Raph grumbled. Donnie tugged on his bandages and Raph yelped.

"Because both Splinter and Mikey will throw fists, especially Mikey," Don explained. "Plus it's Splinter's orders: care for her as Mikey does...Okay you're done."

Raph got up and left the lab without another word. He glanced over at Rinji, who was still in Mikey's arms. When she saw him, she yelped and hid her face from him. He didn't show it, but he felt bad for what he did. Don was right. It was unnecessary to pull her tail. He went to his room and slammed the door shut.

That night, Raphael crept out of his room and peered into Mikey's. Rinji was curled up in a ball fast asleep in a blanket on Mikey's bed. While Raph's younger brother snored like a whale, Rinji slept peacefully and silently. He realized something: he didn't hate her as much as he did earlier that day. He tip-toed into Mikey's room and carefully bent over Rinji. He rubbed her head, and then her tail. He did tug at it hard; he could only imagine the pain this tiny creature had felt.

It took him a lot of courage for him to whisper, "I'm sorry, Rinji," and then he fled from the room.

Rinji then moaned and stirred a bit, then let the corners of her mouth slightly rise to form a faint smile.

Raph had apologized...and he said her name.


	4. Chapter 4

**I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING TMNT RELATED!**

Summary: the other turtles begin to bond with Rinji.

Rinji woke up with something large and heavy on her back. She shifted her head to see a long green snake with three long stubs at the end draped over her body. Turning her head the other way, she noticed the green snake was connected to Michelangelo's body; it was his arm, whom its owner was still fast asleep. She wiggled herself free, sat up and stretched. She slept soundly last night, more peaceful than she ever had before, and she wondered why. Then she remembered. Quickly yet quietly she leaped off of Mikey's bed and paced on all fours into Raphael's room.

Peeking into the room Rinji saw Raph fast asleep in his bed, with one arm and leg hanging over the edge. She saw a tiny turtle fast asleep next to him on a nightstand, and she prowled on her belly over to it to see the smaller turtle. Standing on her tip toes she got a better view of the turtle. It was a regular one, not as big as Raphael or the others. She brought up one small hand and extended one of her four fingers, attempting to touch the normal reptile.

But something grabbed her hand from her left. She gasped and turned in that direction to see a giant green, three-fingered hand clamp hers; she followed the arm and saw it led to Raphael. He opened his bright green eyes and smiled. Before Rinji could react, she studied that smile. It seemed friendly enough, so she decided not to run.

"Now what are you doing here?" Raph asked as he sat up in his bed. "You don't have to respond. I know you can't talk." Rinji just tilted her head, flopping one ear up and the other down. She understood what he said, she just couldn't reply with words. She went to the edge of Raph's bed and laid her chin against the edge of the thin mattress. It was firm, but also fluffy, if such combination ever existed. She then leaped up onto it and nuzzled against Raph. It surprised her a bit that he accepted her company. "...Hey, uh...listen, kid-er...Rinji...I'm sorry for...you know, pulling your tail. In case you haven't noticed already, my temper can get out of hand, and I end up not caring about how I hurt others, or how badly they are hurt...and so...yeah, I'm sorry...I gotta ask, how do I know ya forgive me?"

Rinji blinked a bit then rubbed her head against his shoulder. "I guess that's how," Raph said. He chuckled and stroked his hand down her neck and along her spine. Rinji's eyes widened; he was actually petting her. Maybe he really was sorry for yanking her tail nearly out of her body. When she first saw him she imagined him being the heartless one of the bunch, Mikey being the most caring. But she was proven wrong. There was good in this turtle. She raised the corners of her mouth to a faint smile.

A loud grumble rang throughout the room. Rinji gasped and frantically searched for the source of the noise, only to turn to Raphael's stomach. He laughed. "Hey, it's okay. I'm just hungry," he said as he patted his plastron. A faint grumble was heard as well. Rinji not only heard it, she felt it. She gasped again and clutched her stomach. Raph laughed again. "You must be hungry, too." He got up from his bed and put Spike on his shoulder. Then he eyed Rinji gazing at the non-mutant turtle. Raph placed Spike in his hand and held him out to her. "This is Spike. He's my pet, and mine only. Just like you are Mikey's." Rinji just blinked at Spike, he blinked back. She tilted her head, he tilted his. Letting her human side get the best of her, Rinji stuck out her tongue. Spike just licked his lips. Rinji clamped a hand over her mouth and let out a small giggle.

Raph chuckled. "Here, hop on." He motioned for her to get onto his back. She hopped onto his shoulder, clinging to the sides of his head as the three headed off to the kitchen. Once they arrived Raph sat Rinji in a chair and placed Spike on the table, then began opening cabinets. She wanted to be with the turtle, so Rinji climbed up onto the table and watched him nibble on a lettuce leaf. Raph turned with two bowls in each hand and saw this. "Rinji! You can't be on the table. You need to be in a chair." He lifted Rinji up and off the table, and plopped her back into the chair. He turned around again to look for the cereal, and Rinji hopped back onto the table, watching Spike finish his leaf.

"Ugh, not again," Raph groaned. "Rinji, you don't sit on the table." She pointed to Spike as she tilted her head. "Why?" Raph wondered what she meant. "Because though you're a fox, you are also human, and humans do not sit on tables. Spike can sit on the table because he's a turtle."

Rinji thought she understood, and she grabbed Raph's hand and tugged it towards her. "Hey, what are ya doing?" he asked her, then he understood what she was trying to do. he laughed and said, "Oh, you think I'm allowed on the table because I'm a turtle, too? Well, sorry. I may be a turtle, but I have some human in me, plus I'm way too big and too heavy." Rinji lowered her head and whimpered. "Hey, it's nothing to be upset about. If I get up there I'll crush the whole table. Ya get it?" He knew Rinji wanted him up on the table with her and Spike; she also understood, but it still made her sad. She crawled off the table and sat in her chair. Raph watched her play with the tuft of fur on her tail. He groaned; face, meet palm. "Okay, okay. You can eat breakfast _on_ the table and not at it." Rinji sat up straighter; there was still one more thing she wanted, though. Raph knew this. He sighed and said, "And, I'll...I'll sit up there with you." Rinji smiled and leaped up onto the table.

Raph poured himself and Rinji a bowl of cereal with milk, dropped a spoon into it, and slid her bowl to her, then climbed up onto the table. He was a bit surprised it didn't collapse under his weight. As he dug in, Rinji had no idea how to use this long piece of cold silver with a little dome at one end. Then she dipped it into the bowl, and brought up a bunch of cereal flakes with a puddle of milk. She gasped at what she did. "Good," said Raph, wiping his mouth. "Now you put the spoon in your mouth, like this." He demonstrated by shoving the spoonful of cereal and milk into his mouth. Rinji slowly copied him. The milk was cold in her mouth, and the cereal was very sweet. She didn't know what to do next. What does she do with these things in her mouth? Then she remembered how she ate a berry with Michelangelo. She chewed the cereal soft with the milk, then swallowed. The cereal was crunchy, but as she chewed it down, they became much softer for her to swallow. The sweetness was pleasurable, and Rinji scooped out another spoonful, and repeated the process until all that was left was a bowl full of sweetened milk.

"Now for the fun part. You can just lick it, like a cat, I guess," said Raph as he lifted the bowl, "but I like doing this." He brought the edge of the bowl to his mouth, leaned the bowl towards him and slurped the milk. Rinji blinked; she wanted to copy him, but she couldn't lift the heavy bowl, so she bent forward and licked the milk like a kitten. She heard Raph sigh pleasurably and glanced upward to a peculiar sight. She had no idea what to think of it, but she knew she had to laugh. "What? What's so funny?" Raph asked. Rinji covered her mouth and pointed to Raph's. He had a milk mustache. "Oh. That." He laughed and wiped it away.

Rinji continued licking the bowl when she gasped and perked her ears up. "What is it?" Raph asked her, and she turned her head to the kitchen entrance; but then she continued slurping the milk in her bowl as she saw a familiar face had approached. Leo entered the kitchen sleepily, but awoke completely at the sight he saw.

"Raph! What are you doing up there?" he exclaimed. "You can't sit and eat on the table!"

"Rinji wanted me to," Raph pointed to the Foxling.

Before Leo could retort back, he thought on that. "And...you did what she wanted?"

"Yeah. So?" Raph said.

Leo smirked; he knew the truth. "Just wondering." He petted Rinji, who continued to slurp her bowl like an animal. "Rinji, there's an easier way to drink that, you know." Rinji looked up wiping her mouth, and Leo saw the bowl completely empty. "Or you could just lick the bowl clean."

Rinji smiled. Then she perked her ears up again as someone else entered the kitchen, relaxing to realize it was only Donatello.

"Hey, Donnie," Leo and Raph said simultaneously.

"Morning, guys," Don yawned, then noticed Rinji on the table. "Hello, you."

Rinji continued smiling. "_Hi-Uhh!_" the sudden abrupt noise came out of her with no warning. She gasped horrified and covered her mouth. Then she felt a tightness in her lower chest, and the noise came again. "_Hi-Uhh!_" She didn't like it, it hurt a little.

Raph and Leo laughed. "Looks like someone has the hiccups," said Raphael. "That's what you get for drinking the milk too fast, kid."

So that's what they were called. Rinji didn't like these hiccups. They hurt. She wanted them gone. "_Hi-Uhh!_" She moaned and rubber her chest.

Raph went over to her and rubbed her back. "I know, kid. Hiccups are-" he was interrupted by a hiccup from Rinji, but continued, "-no picnic...Maybe Donnie here could help you."

"What?" the purple-clad turtle exclaimed.

"Yeah. After all, this could be the chance for Rinji and Donnie-boy to bond. And Splinter said we had to...right, Leo?" Raph nudged his older brother in the elbow.

"He's right, Don," Leo nodded.

"_Hi-Uhh!_" Rinji hiccuped and moaned.

Don groaned. "Okay, okay." He lifted Rinji off the table and carried her to his lab. He, along with Leo, still felt she could still be a threat, or even a trap. It seemed weird they found her there. His thoughts were interrupted when Rinji let out a violent hiccup, powerful enough he felt her rise and fall. "Geez, you got them bad, don't you?" he said. Then he scoffed. "I don't know why I bother. You can't talk, you're not gonna respond back." Rinji just whimpered and hugged herself.

Donatello sat her on a laid out bed in the lab and sat in a chair at his desk, turning towards her. She hiccuped again and lost balance, falling to her side on her tail. He chuckled, but he saw pain in her eyes. She really did not like them. "Okay, one method is to hold your breath for thirty seconds. Can you hold your breath?" Rinji blinked. "Okay, never mind that method. Well, another way is to drink water." He filled a glass with water in the bathroom and handed it to her. "Just drink it all."

Rinji had no idea what to to with this cylindrical thing made of hard, transparent material. It was cold to the touch. Don then demonstrated how to hold the glass and pretended to drink it. "See? Now you try." Donnie handed her back the glass, and she copied him, drinking the water.

But as she drank the water, Rinji hiccuped, and she sucked in most of the water. She gagged and dropped the glass and began coughing and hiccuping water. Don jumped as the glass cup shattered on the floor. He groaned and picked up the pieces. He heard Rinji wheezing and sobbing, but he brushed it off. Tossing the glass bits into the trash he turned back to scold at Rinji, only to pause at what he saw. Rinji trembled as remaining water dripped from her mouth; big tears fell from her eyes as she cried and hiccuped constantly. His heart broke. Grabbing a towelette, Donnie cleaned up the regurgitated water, tossed the towelette into the trash and lifted the sobbing Foxling. He cradled her and wiped away her tears. "I'm sorry, Rinji," he said.

Rinji ceased crying for that one moment. He said her name; he didn't call her 'it' or a thing. She whimpered and nuzzled against his chest. He chuckled and wrapped her in a blanket. Then he realized something. "Hey. You're not hiccuping." He was right; those stupid hiccups were gone. She sighed full of relief and continued nuzzling him. Donnie carried her out of the lab and back into the kitchen with the others.

"It's quiet," Leo said. "Those hiccups must be gone, huh?"

Rinji yelped gracefully. Don sat her on the table, but Leo picked her up again and put her on the floor. Her ears drooped and she hunched her back with a whimper. "It's alright, Leo, she can sit there," Donnie said. Leo stared confused and surprised at his intelligent brother. Five minutes ago he was uneasy about the Foxling, but now...he was like Raphael. Leo glanced down at Rinji; she looked up with puppy eyes and a puckered lip. She jumped into his lap, but he just put her back down again. After several attempts, she finally gave up and trudged out of the kitchen, dragging the blanket Donnie handed her, curling up on the couch in the living area.

Raph glared. "Nice one, Fearless."

"What?! I didn't want her on me, okay?" Leo retorted. Both Raph and Don stared at him, and he felt uneasy. "Urrgh. Fine. I'll go and talk with her." He got up and left the kitchen. Then he muttered to himself, "It's not like she can talk back or anything."

He entered the living room and saw Rinji still on the couch in a little ball, her tail wrapped around her, snuggling with the blanket. Leo sat down next to her; she raised her head at the sudden change of space and turned it towards her visitor then, realizing who it was, sullenly lowered it in her arms again. "Oh, don't be like that," he said rather harshly, a bit harsher than he had intended. "The others may not see it, but I see you as...well...something. I know you're no good. There's a chance your fox side could get the best of you, and you could become, I don't know, savage, dangerous!"

If Rinji could talk, she would say that it was impossible for said thing to occur, but she remained still as Leo went on. "What is it about you that can quickly change my brothers' perspective towards you, huh? What, you got cutesy powers that can make anyone fall in love with you, or make you irresistible or something like that? Let it's not gonna work on me, you. Ya hearing me?"

His words hurt her so, and she couldn't hold back the tears any longer. In a small sob, she let them flow from her eyes, disappearing into her tail. Leo saw her trembling, but was unfazed. "Oh, stop it. This is all a show, I know it." He got down on his knees and knelt in front of her face. Now he was taken aback. The tears were real, the crying was real. The pain he gave her was real. A sudden realization and answer to one of his questions came to him. _That's how she got them to change their feelings towards her...she let the others know how much they really hurt her by letting out her pain...the pain we gave her. _Mikey's words rang through his head: _She is not a threat to us, you are a threat to her..._

His heart broke, and he laid a gentle hand on her quivering body. Then Leo brought up enough courage for him to rest his head against her on. "I'm so sorry, Rinji," he whispered. "...I had no idea what possessed me...Mikey was right...we're the threat, not you...God I'm sorry, Rinji."

She felt her pain lift from her each time she said her name. Her crying was reduced to sniffles and she nuzzled against Leo's neck. He draped his arms around her and hugged her. "How could someone so small have such evil I accused you with?" he said aloud, but to himself.

He didn't know it, but Raphael and Donatello watched him with a smile. But Rinji knew. Now all the turtles cared for her.


	5. Chapter 5

**I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING TMNT RELATED!**

Summary: A mad man of magical powers known as Kuragari reveals his diabolical scheme. Meanwhile the turtles take Rinji to Central Park one late afternoon.

Late that night in the lair, Rinji was being chased by Donnie. She had a slice of pizza in her mouth that she had stolen from Donnie's plate, and he wanted it back. "Hey! Gimme my pizza!" He said with a laugh. That laugh told Rinji it was like a game, and she wanted to play along. She picked up the pace and ran on all fours around the lair. Don tired out and eventually gave up, groaning that it was only a pizza and that she could have it. Rinji stopped running and turned to Donnie, who glanced solemnly at his empty plate.

She felt bad, so she pranced over to Donnie and dropped the pizza slice onto the plate, looking up at him. He suddenly grabbed her and pulled her into his lap. Don began to brush his fingers over her tummy under her shirt. Rinji giggles and sucks in her belly, but it's hopeless; the purple-clad turtle could still get to her. She squirmed in Donnie's lap, trying to break free. He laughed and said, "This is the penalty for stealing my pizza. But since ya brought it back..." He ceased tickling her and she relaxed, taking big gulps of air.

Don petted her head; her mouth opened wide and she let out a yawn.

"I think somebody's tired," said Leo. Rinji curled up into a ball on Don's lap.

He laughed. "No, I am not a pillow." He nudged her awake and sat her up. "Here, let Mikey put you to sleep." He lifted her and dropped her in Mikey's arms.

"C'mon, Rinji, let's put you to bed," Mikey cooed as he nuzzled Rinji on her head. He sat on the bed with the Foxling still in his arms and pulled a blanket over them both. "You like lullabies?" He asked her. She glanced back up with heavy eyes. "You probably don't know what that is, do ya? A lullaby is a soft sung song that can help you go to sleep. I'm not the best singer, but I know the best lullaby to help you sleep better. Certainly helped me and my bros have pleasant dreams. Ya wanna hear it?" She just moaned and rubbed her eyes. "Alright, I'll take that as a 'yes'." He cleared his throat, and he sang:

_"Hushabye, don't you cry  
go to sleep, sweet little baby  
When you wake, you shall have  
all the pretty little horses  
Dapples and greys,  
pintos and bays,  
all the pretty little horses._

"Hushabye, don't you cry  
dream away, sweet little baby  
When you dream, you shall see  
all the pretty little horses  
Dapples and greys,  
pintos and bays,  
all the pretty little horses.

"Hushabye, don't you cry  
Have no fear, o precious baby  
I am here, within you  
as the pretty little horses  
Dapples and greys,  
pintos and bays,  
all the pretty little horses."

Rinji was sound asleep in his arms by the time he finished. He yawned himself and tucked her under the blanket and laid her head on her own pillow. Then, giving her a kiss, he rolled over onto his side and fell asleep snoring.

In her slumber, Rinji replayed the lullaby. Then she frowned.

She had heard it before.

* * *

No one in New York knew of the cavern that laid hidden deep under the city, nor of those who inhabited it.

One hundred feet below New York City's sewer system was a deep cavern of jagged rocks and cliffs. Old pipes and railroad tracks stuck out of the rock walls, and one particular train track led further down the cavern. Head three miles that direction, and there is a large dome-shaped chamber with a circular base, and a large gap between the circle and the wall; around the wall are chandeliers of spherical flames. Down the gap is a pool of molten lava, and it is a 200-foot fall; on the furthest wall of this domed chamber in front of the narrow entrance is a throne of solid stone. A fiendish villain, unknown to the outside world, sits upon that throne.

Warlock Kuragari.

A wicked, maniacal man of brute power. He truly is a warlock, possessing great powers. His skin is firm and wrinkly, he has a small grey beard on his chin. His eyes are pure red of blood, he wore a midnight black cloak over his body. He was bony, but had great strength. In one hand he clutched a staff with a skull of a human, rather freshly scalped and scrubbed, perched at the top. In the other, he had a ring on each finger. Each ring gave him a certain ability to control anything, and almost everything. On his thumb was a ring with a topaz-brown gem in the center; this ring gave him the power to move the earth, but small bits and pieces, like a boulder or a stalactite. One his index finger, the dominant one, was a ring with an emerald; with green being the color of life and loving things, he could control the lives and split them between two different morsels. On his middle finger, the one you flick people off with, he had a ring with a sapphire; this ring gave him the ability to manipulate water, and suck it from anything, under the ground, from plants, even from the air. On his ring finger, duh, was a ring with a ruby; this one let him touch fire without getting a single burn from head to toe, and create fire with his bare, bony cold hands. On his little finger, there was a ring with pure diamond crystals; this let him control the air around him. He needs the rings for ultimate power. Without them he's just a man in his early 60s in a black cloak with a raspy voice.

Kuragari rose from his throne and stood eerily tall, his shadow extending onward in front of him. He rested his hand atop the fresh skull and drummed his long, unclean nails against the temple. He inhaled the intoxicated air which filled his molten, stony lair as he took one slow step at a time down the solid steps to the ground. Trekking to the center of the chamber, he halted, raised his ringed hand, and slightly waved it round.

He exhaled a raspy sigh. He sensed something. "...It...it is near...somewhere in the city...so close...I can almost taste it...The power...it possesses...is greater...than my very own...Imagine what evil...I can bring down...upon this world...Also...I am...once again, hungry...I must...find it...before it...ruins me of all my...power...Must...find...Neko-Me Kitsune..." And in his madness he muttered that name over and over again.

* * *

Very early the following morning, Leonardo woke up to the sound of whimpering. He thought it was all a dream at first, until he felt something land on him. Letting out an "Oof!", he fluttered his eyes open to find the little Foxling sitting on him. He groaned and tried to sit up. "R-Rinji...It's five in the morning. Go back to-" he was cut short by the sound of soft sobbing. Observing the little creature in the twilight more closely he could see tears on her face, and he became concerned. "Oh...is everything alright?"

Rinji whimpered and curled up on his chest, burying her face in her arms and continued to cry. Leo then tried to figure out the problem. Thinking of Mikey, what would be the reason he would disrupt their sleeping? "Oh," Leo said softly. "Did you have a bad dream?"

Rinji did have a nightmare, but she had no idea on how to signal the mutant turtle she did. In her frustrations, she went on crying. Leo patted her head and took her in his arms. "It's okay," he hushed. "It was just a dream. It's not real, it can't hurt you...Lemme see if I can figure out what kind of dream you had...You dreamed you were all alone."

It was as though Leo was psychic. She let out a shuddered yelp; Leo took it as a 'yes'. He smiled kindly and stroked her head. She blinked back tears; why was he smiling? Was he happy she had a nightmare? Or was he happy to see her afraid? No...not any of those. Leo wasn't smiling of pleasure, he was smiling of sorrow. He felt bad for her that she had a bad dream; confirming this, Rinji's crying reduced to sniffles as she curled up tightly in his arms. She let out a soft purr.

Leo chuckled. "You must have some cat in you," he said gently. She must have; she drank milk from a bowl, when she would fall she would land on her feet, and she once licked her palms and scrubbed behind her ears. Leo thought that was a bit creepy, but it didn't matter.

He knew trying to get her, and himself, back to sleep would prove pointless. Luckily, he had an idea. "It's pretty early for any humans to be out and about the city. And it's a Saturday, so not many people will be on the streets. I know the perfect thing for you." Rinji wiped her eyes and glanced up at him curiously. What surprise did he have in store for her? He got up from bed and placed Rinji on his shoulders. "You'll have to be quiet, though. Don't wanna let anyone know we're going to the surface." Leo tip-toed out of his room and scurried into the sewers as quick as he could. At each sharp turn, Rinji would accidentally let out a yelp. "Shh! We don't want anyone to know we're gone." He slowed to a halt at a sewer junction. Gazing down each tunnel, he tried to figure out where he needed to go.

"Never thought I'd see the day."

Leo gasped and turned around to find his younger brothers right behind him. Raph stepped forward with a smirk. "Leo's disobeying the rules: no early sewer runs without Splinter's content. Breaking the rules is usually my thing."

Leo sighed. "I'm not going on a sewer run, Raph. I'm taking Rinji to Central Park." The Foxling had never heard of such a place before, but it sounded exciting.

"Why are you taking her there?" Donnie asked. "You know that there was a fire there a few nights ago." He was right; there was an unexpected fire in the middle of Central Park, and several trees were knocked down. He feared for Rinji's safety with all the jagged pieces of wood.

"I know that, Don...but I thought she could use some fresh air," Leo began, "...and, she had a nightmare."

Mikey gasped. "Oh, no!" He raced to Rinji and lifted her from Leo's shoulders, snuggling her. "Poor Rinji. How come you didn't wake me?" Rinji frowned and flicked her tail. "Oh...you tried? Dang, I must be a heavier sleeper than I thought. I'm sorry, Rinji." He nuzzled her and played with her ears as Rinji gently pawed his chin. "Oh, and Leo, if she's going to Central Park, so am I."

"What?" Leo said.

"Yeah," Mikey nodded. "I wanna show her around. I can show her the trees and grass and bugs and grass and trees and flowers and bugs and grass and clouds and trees and bugs...did I mention trees?"

Donnie groaned and face palmed.

Leo sighed heavily. "Fine, Mikey."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Raph said. "If he gets to go, then so do we."

"Then we really would get in trouble, Raph," Leo pointed out.

"Hey, you went out first."

"I'm doing it for Rinji! I'm sure any of you would do the same thing."

"I know I would," Mikey raised his hand.

Raph smirked. "Ya don't let us come, I'll tell Sensei you did go out sewer running. We'll see what he thinks."

"You are so childish, Raph," Leo scoffed. But eventually, his red-band brother won out. "Fine. Let's go."

"Last one to the surface hatched from a rotten egg!" Mikey exclaimed as he held Rinji close to his chest, and they all took off down the tunnel. Leo groaned and followed his brothers.

Don lifted the manhole cover and peeked outside. Stars were still out, and the sky was a purple color. There were no cars around, and hardly any people were on the streets. He signaled the coast was clear to his brothers and hopped out of the sewers. They each climbed out and knelt on the wet grass, Mikey coming out last.

"Look, Rinji. This is outside," he said.

Rinji gasped. There were trees and grass everywhere, lots of land to run and roll around in; it was unlike anything she had ever seen. As soon as Mikey released her, she raced off giggling, hopping and pouncing the dewy grass. The turtles laughed and chased after her. With the grass being slippery from the dew, they all slipped and landed on their shells. Rinji laughed and slipped over to them on her belly.

Then something caught her eye. She gasped and pounced after it, leaving the turtles confused at what could have caught her attention. Mikey got on his feet and followed her. He found her laying like a puppy on her stomach, her hands resting under her chin, and her eyes followed a caterpillar inching its way across the grass. Mikey laughed and called to his brothers, "Guys, Rinji found a caterpillar!" Leo, Don and Raph raced over and watched Rinji follow the caterpillar on her belly inch by inch. She gasped and widened her eyes each time the caterpillar scrunched and arched its body and stretched out again. Arch, stretch-arch, stretch, over and over again, but Rinji was fascinated each time. They laughed at her curiosity.

Leo bent down beside her. "Rinji, watch this." He stuck his finger in the caterpillar's path, and the inching invertebrate crawled onto his finger, and he showed it to her. She gasped and looked at him with eyes full of amazement, like it was the most amazing thing in the world. Then he took her hand, "Now, watch this." The caterpillar inched its way onto Rinji's hand. Rinji's eyes widened; it felt cold from the dew it was covered in. Its stubby legs tickled her hand and she giggled as it traveled along her arm. Leo gently grabbed it before it disappeared into her sleeve and settled it back into the grass.

"Hey, Rinji," said Donnie, and he pointed behind her. The Foxling turned her head that direction and squeaked at the sight. A butterfly fluttered its wings and flew through the air. Rinji pounced after it and tried to catch it, but the butterfly was always out of reach. Donnie laugh. "Rinji, that's called a butterfly. That is what a caterpillar turns into."

"Don't school her, Donnie, and let her have fun," Raph snorted.

"She can have fun by learning too," Donnie said. "I know I do."

"That's because you're a nerd," Raph chortled. Don wasn't paying attention; he was watching Rinji leaping after the butterfly, trying to catch it, but it was always out of her reach. She eventually tired and slumped in the grass, her ears drooping.

Donnie chuckled and knelt down next to her. "It's okay, Rinji. It's really hard to catch a butterfly by hand. You normally use a net, but there isn't one around." Rinji sighed sadly and stuck out her bottom lip which began to quiver. "Oh, don't be sad. We want the butterfly to be free, it's better this way." Rinji raised her head and watched the butterfly flutter freely in the dawn sky. She smiled and nuzzled against the purple-clad turtle. He grinned and rubbed her head.

Mikey came running over with something in his hands. "Guys, lookie what I found!" He raced over holding a soccer ball. "Let's play!" He kicked it in the air, and it smacked Raph in the head, sending him falling on his knees with a yell. "Haha! Raph's out!"

With a growl, Raph gripped the ball tightly and glared. "Oh, I'll give you out!" He kicked the ball away and chased after Mikey. He was too busy trying to bash Mikey into his shell to notice the ball had hit Rinji in the back of the head.

"Raph!" Leo cried. "You just hit Rinji in the head with the ball!" Raph didn't hear him.

Rinji sat up moaning as she rubbed the back of her head. She gasped; her fingers ran over a small bump, and her eyes filled with fear. "Are you okay, Rinji?" asked Donnie.

Rinji just blinked, and she looked around her. She locked her head right behind her into a certain part of the Central Park forest. In a flash she got on all fours and raced over to the woods. "Rinji, come back!" Leo shouted. "You mustn't go in there! There was a fire there!"

Rinji didn't stop; she had no idea how, but she knew. She skidded to a stop at the edge of the woods and gazed at the trees. Some had deep burns, some had light burns; some had deep cuts, like something sharp had sliced into them. She shuddered, acting as if she had seen it before. Rinji crept into the wooded area slowly. Her head pounded as sudden flashes filled her eyes; she had to stop from time to time and gripped her head, grimacing in pain, then she would continue on down a path.

Another flash; this one had voices though, two of them were familiar to her, and she had no idea why. She shuddered as a funny feeling filled her stomach, but she went on down the path-coming to a stop at a revolting smell. Exclaiming and gagging she covered her mouth and plugged her nose, and she followed the odor to a pile of fallen logs with slashes and sticky stains on it. She got to her feet and wobbled closer and closer to the pile. Then she halted as her eyes fell to the bottom of the pile...to see a dismembered arm.

She groaned as she fell to her knees, clutching her head. Flashes filled her head, the throbbing increased. She felt her fox ears and tail, moaning. Looking back to the arm, she shuddered at the rotten flesh as her eyes stung with tears. Then she let out a sound she had never made. Or at least a sound she thought she never made.

She screamed.


	6. Chapter 6

**I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING TMNT RELATED!**

Summary: Rinji remembers her horrific past.

The turtles froze. Raph stopped pounding Mikey, Leo and Donnie stopped trying to pry them apart. The stopped and listened. A long scream shrilled through the night, and it came from the Central Park woods.

Mikey pushed Raph off of him and ran before he got to his feet. "That's Rinji!" He took off to the wooded area to aid his little friend.

Leo ran after him. "Mikey, wait, that place isn't safe!" Raph and Donnie followed close behind.

"I know, which is why I have to get Rinji out of there!" Mikey cried back. He turned back to the wooded area then skidded to a halt; his brothers didn't stop in time and ran into him, knocking everyone down onto the wet grass, groaning. Of course, Leo was on bottom.

"GET...OFFA ME!" Raphael pushed his brothers off of him and got off the ground to see Mikey gawking out above them. "What are you gawking-" he looked up and froze "-oh...that." Leo and Donnie brushed the dew off of their bodies and gazed at the wooded entrance, their eyes widening to the size of Jupiter. They knew the fire was serious, but they didn't know it was this catastrophic. Trees tall and short had severe burns and slashes in the bark, some so deep they look read to collapse, and some already had further away. Some looked to have come from a sword, others-from an animal.

"Hey...look at that," Donnie pointed to a tree with something cold and tarnished sticking out of it. He tugged at it until it broke free from the tree-and he gasped at what he held in his hand. "This is the biggest machete I have ever seen..." The blade was over four feet long with a broad handle. He saw a long red-brown stain that covered over half the blade. It appeared to either be rust or stuff from the tree. "It had to have been sitting here for days and got caught in the fire."

"Forget the stupid 'chete! Rinji, where are ya?!" Mikey cried out and went deeper into the woods.

"Mikey, get back here! Get-" Leo took off after him again then was taken aback by an awful smell.

Raph groaned. "Ugh, God! What died!"

"This is worse than the tunnel under 5th Avenue," Don gagged.

"We have to keep moving," Leo fought a gag. "We need to get Mikey and Rinji out of there. It's too dangerous."

"My only question is," Don said as they went on into the forest, "what made Rinji go in here in the first place."

"Don't know, don't care," Raph groaned. "Let's just hurry it up, this smell is gonna make me puke." They trekked onward into the woods, and the odor became stronger and stronger, so did the burns and slashes in the trees.

"Mikey!" Leo shouted. "Mikey, where are you!?"

The youngest turtle then jumped out in front of them and shushed them. "Quiet," he hissed. "She's right over there." He pointed behind him, and they saw the little Foxling trembling on her knees, groaning and sobbing. "Slowly." He walked towards her, and his brothers followed.

"What's wrong?" Don asked.

Mikey shrugged. "I found her that way. She's pretty scared about something. Just don't know what." They cautiously approached the little creature. "R-Rinji...are you okay?" She shuddered at her name. "Did the ball scare you when it hit you?" Mikey asked as he got down on his knees and rested a hand on her back. She growled.

Mikey gasped and pulled his hand away. "Rinji," he said almost hurtful. "What's wrong? Seeing you this way scares me." He rubbed her back and gazed over her shoulder-that's when he understood. "Oh...guys..." He pointed to the rotten arm. His brothers gasped.

Raph vomited behind a tree. "Ugh, fuck."

Leo cautiously approached it. "W-What...is that?" One more step and the odor is at its strongest; he exclaims and covers his mouth with both hands. Don stepped forward to see it. Bits of flesh were yellow or green, or just completely gone and all that was there was bone.

"It's a body," he gagged. "Rinji probably got scared when she saw it."

Rinji started making loud retching sounds, arching her back, pushing forward. But she wasn't vomiting, just making the sound. Each one became more violent than the last one.

"Rinji!" Mikey cried. "Get Splinter! He'll know what to do!"

"He won't come to the surface," Leo said.

Mikey glared. "Well, Rinji's not gonna move!"

"My sons!" cried the rat. The turtles turned to see their sensei approaching them in a hooded cloak.

"Master Splinter, what are you doing up on the surface?!" Leo exclaimed.

"I felt a disturbance among your auras," Splinter said. Then he saw Rinji trembling and retching. "Is everything alright with her?"

"We don't know," Raph shrugged.

"I'm afraid she's hurt," Mikey let out a sob. "I-I wanna help but s-she keeps pushing us all away."

"How do you mean, my son?" Splinter laid a comforting hand on Mikey's shoulder.

"She growled at me."

"Then there's the body," said Donnie.

Splinter sat up and stiffened. "What body?" He hadn't noticed the dreadful smell until now. He exclaimed and covered his snout. His sons explained about the arm. The rat suddenly gasped; he made a connection. He slowly got to his knees and reached out a hand.

"What are you doing?" Leo asked.

"I am going to try and connect with Rinji's conscience once more. I feel something has happened," Splinter explained, and he rested a hand on Rinji's head. She growled and her body vibrated. "Shhh, easy, young one. I am not going to hurt you." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Immediately he saw what she had seen. Flashes blinded his eyes as horrific images appeared, blood-curdling screams, awful odors, unbearable feelings. It felt like forever, but it was only a few seconds. He let out a cry of pain and pulled away. He had seen enough.

"Master Splinter!" the turtles cried and helped him up.

"Are you okay?" Donnie asked.

"What'd ya see?" asked Raph.

Splinter choked and turned to the sobbing Foxling. "Horrible things...I cannot describe it in any other way. My sons...she remembers her past."

"Like what?" Mikey said.

"How she became what she is..." the rodent turned to the dismembered arm, "And it is not just seeing the body that scared her...It's that she knew who the body was." The boys gasped. Splinter then explained what he had seen.

* * *

_She ran as fast as she could with a woman holding her hand. Her heart raced and her eyes were wide with panic. She turned her head to look behind her. "He's coming closer!"_

_"Don't look back!" exclaimed the woman. "Just keep running!" The lady held a large machete in her other hand, and the grip she held it with looked like she was ready to swing at anything._

_A large ball of fire shot next to them. She screamed at the top of her lungs and stumbled. "Come on, hon, we gotta keep going!" said the woman. "He's right behind us!"_

_"I-I'm scared!" she cried._

_"I know, sweetheart, but just stay with me and we'll be okay," the woman said as kindly as she could._

_She got to her feet and kept running with the woman through Central Park. They entered the forest and ducked under branches and jumped over fallen logs. Another ball of flames exploded right behind them, and the two girls went flying, landing in the grass. The woman gasped as a man in a dark cloak slowly advanced towards them. "Go, hide," the woman told her. She got to her feet and hid behind a nearby tree. The woman stood up and held the machete out in front of her, pointing it towards the hooded figure. "Stay away, Kuragari! Leave us alone! We don't have anything you would want!"_

_"...That...is where... you are wrong...I...want...your...innards..." the hooded figure gasped._

_"Mommy!" she cried._

_The woman swung the machete at the figure, and he drew out his staff. She turned to her and screamed, "Get out of here!" Then she quickly faced the hooded figure and swung the 'chete. The figure raised his staff and swung, and the woman ducked. She quickly turned back to her. "You will die if you stay! Go, now!"_

_She shook her head. "No, Mommy!"_

_The hooded man named Kuragari brought down his staff, and the woman blocked it with the machete; but Kuragari knocked it out of her hand and embedded it into a tree. The woman tried to pull it out, but it was jammed into the wood. Then she saw Kuragari approaching the woman with his staff in the air._

_"Look out!" she shrilled. The woman turned and gasped; just before the staff could hit her she rolled out of the way and raced to her._

_"Come, love, let's go!" the woman exclaimed and carried her._

_"He's still following us!" she cried. The woman ran faster, but she tripped over a fox that scampered across her path; they both fell to the ground._

_"Damn fox!" the woman cried._

_"Mommy!"_

_The woman turned around and saw Kuragari standing above her. She shoved her out of the way, and the girl landed by a tree near a den, where she was bitten by the same fox. Pulling away she turned to the woman. She froze. The woman stood motionless on her feet; Kuragari held his staff as though he had swung it. She gasped as a ring of red formed around the woman's neck. Then, her head slipped from her body, which dropped to the ground on a pile of logs. She didn't know what to do except scream._

_Placing the woman's head into a sack, Kuragari bent down and rammed his jagged nails into the woman's chest, tore it open, and ripped her lungs and heart out. Tearing them to pieces he shoved chunks of them into his mouth. Blood squirted everywhere and landed on the girl's skin. He buried his face into her hollow chest cavity, cleaning the flesh from her spine and ribs, then he moved down to her abdominal area. He ripped open the woman's stomach, buried his face into it, tearing bits of flesh one mouthful at a time. He feasted on her innards until all that was left was the flesh on her bones._

_Then he slowly rose to his feet and turned to the girl. "Now...what to do...with you..."_

_She got to her feet and ran as fast as she could, wailing. Kuragari revealed his ringed hand and held it out. All five rings on each finger shot out blinding lights of their color, and they formed around her. She suddenly couldn't move. She felt a painful tingle in her lower back and on top of her head. Her skin felt fuzzy. When she screamed, all that came out was a howl. Her clothes vanished, she grew a snout, and her hands and feet became paws, her nails becoming claws. She landed on all fours and huffed, growling. Then she turned her head to the warlock._

_He was taken aback. Her eyes were glowing yellow with narrow red pupils. "...You...Neko-Me Kitsune..." The new creature took off running out of the forest and near the sewers. "So...much...power...I can sense it...It is...delicious..." he chased after her._

_She didn't know when she turned back into a partial human, but she did. But the fox ears and tail remained. She slipped through a sewer drain and scampered down the tunnel. Kuragari was not far behind, and with his staff, he threw an orb of energy at her, barely missing and hitting the tunnel wall. She suddenly forgot how to scream, she forgot how to cry. All she knew was to run. Her new animal side was taking over rapidly._

_After many misses and dodges of the energy orbs, Kuragari came to a halt and watched her run down the tunnel. "I...know...we will...meet...again...Neko-Me Kitsune..." He muttered that word over and over again as he fades into the black shadows, but not before bending his thumb and caused the tunnel walls to collapse._

_She scampered faster down the tunnel as the walls fell around her, boulders landing next to her, barely dodging each one. Then one large rock fell and hit her head behind her new ear, and she fell to the ground, laying there motionless._

_When she awoke, she had no idea where she was or how she got there; especially who or what she was. She rubbed her head and felt a large bump; she felt her fox ears and tail and looked around her to see debris of pipes and rocks. She was all alone in the tunnel. And she had no memory of what had happened only hours ago._

_Getting to her feet she limped down the tunnel and down a pipe that had been broken open by a falling rock. She slipped into it and snuggled herself, whimpering fearfully._

* * *

The turtles gazed horrified at their father.

"Neko-Me Kitsune...Cat-Eyed Fox," Leo whispered.

"That just sounds to horrible to be true," Donnie sighed.

"Indeed, my son...But it is...she remembers." Splinter gently patted her back, making her snap at him, then turned away, making softer retching and gurgling sounds. "And in Kuragari's death, I heard, will she gain back her humanity." He frowned at her. _What power do you possess that Kuragari is destined to kill for?_

"This body...it's her mom," Mikey said, beginning to cry.

"Was," Raph mumbled, trying to hide his emotions.

Mikey kicked a stone. "What a monster, that Kuragari! He ate her! He just-ripped her open and ate her! For no reason whatsoever!"

Rinji let out a ferocious growl and shuddered. Her body trembled and she lowered her head; the tufts of fur on her ears and tail ruffled and stood on end. She felt bile rise up in her throat and spat it on the grass. Mikey crouched down next to her and saw her face; it was scrunched up in a fiery glare as her eyes pointed to the grass. "R-Rinji...are you okay?"

Just as he reached out to touch her, a blinding ring of light illuminated around her. Mikey jumped back and fell on his brothers, everyone shielding their eyes. Rinji's cry of pain and rage filled the woods, shaking the trees.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?" cried Raph.

"EVERYONE, GET BACK!" demanded Leo, and they all crawled away a few feet from Rinji-all except Mikey.

"Michelangelo, get away from there!" Splinter shouted over Rinji's cry.

Mikey knelt where he was, just a few feet behind Rinji. "NO!" he replied. "I'M NO MOVING UNTIL I KNOW SHE'S OKAY!" He saw movement in the blinding ring of light; he was able to hear sounds too: screams, cries...howls. Then, after a minute, the light slowly faded, and a thin puff of smoke covered the Foxling. Coughing, he crawled slowly towards her, but froze once the smoke cleared.

"Oh, my God," Leo gasped.

Instead of the little girl with the fox ears and tail, there was a muscular, yet bony, ruffled-fur fox in her place. Its breathing was loud, shaky, and its body trembled with each one. Mikey studied the paws; each paw had a set of claws, one on each of the four fingers. The fur, instead of a friendly muddy orange, it was a filthy shade of orange, almost like the color of rust, and the tip of the tail had an uneven layer of white fur, the paws having an uneven layer of black. Despite the horrific change of appearance, Mikey knew who this creature was.

"...Rinji..."

He reached out to pet her; she sensed it. She quickly turned around and snapped at him with a pair of jagged teeth. Mikey managed to pull his hand back in time before she could sink her canines into his palm. She turned her whole body towards him, her ears perked to signal a threat, her lips curled up, revealing her gums, and the white set of teeth on top and bottom. Then he noticed her eyes: a glowing, very pale yellow with a slash of deep red in the center, almost cat-like. They stared straight into Mikey's cyan blue eyes. He was so lost into them he didn't notice the ferocious creature taking one step at a time towards him, licking her lips.

"Mikey, get out of there!" Leo cried, but his baby brother did not move. The new Rinji just crept closer and closer towards him. "MIKEY, DAMN IT, COME ON!" He still didn't move. Leo then pulled out his katanas and jumped between his brother and the vicious animal that was once the little girl he had cared for. "Keep away from him!" Mikey, no longer staring into the cat eyes, blinked rapidly before stumbling to his feet and running off, collapsing in his sensei's arms. "You won't hurt him!" Leo pointed one sword towards Rinji. She froze in her tracks and growled; she knew this was her friend. But she didn't care at the moment. She arched her back and growled menacingly. "Rinji, whatever you're going, stop this! You're bound to hurt someone!"

Again, this side of Rinji didn't care. She barked viciously, making Leo jump back a bit. Once his guard was down that one second, she jumped onto him, and pinned him to the grass, making him lose a hold of his swords.. She tried to reach her snout down and snap at his face, but Leo held her back by the neck, and he was losing his grip quickly. Rinji's claws dug into his shoulders and legs, drawing blood, and he was covered in deep scratches.

Raph jumped to his feet and pulled out his sais. "You little monster! Get offa him!" He got ready to run but Mikey grabbed his arm.

"No, don't hurt her!" he cried.

"Mike, in case ya haven't noticed, that thing is going to eat Leo's face if ya don't lemme go!" Raph shouted.

Mikey got to his feet and pressed his nose against Raph's. "She is not a thing! She is Rinji!"

"Not anymore," Donatello said as he stood up, glaring at the creature that snapped at his oldest brother.

"It's not her fault! She probably can't control this!" Mikey defended. "Like you could control your anger when you suddenly remember your mom was eaten clean from the bone!"

"We don't have a mom, shell-fer-brains!" Raph retorted.

"You know what I mean!" Mikey shouted.

"Get off of me!" Leo demanded to Rinji. She just barked, and she sank her teeth into his hand. "AAAUGH!"

"Leonardo!" Splinter cried and ran to his aid. Pulling his staff from under his kimono, he didn't think twice before swatting Rinji with it, knocking her off of Leo. She hit her back against a nearby tree and fell to the grass, laying there motionless. While Don and Raph ran to Leo's side, Mikey went to Rinji. She slowly changed back to her human form with the fox ears and tail. Her clothes returned, and under her closed eye lids, her eyes went back to their normal brown color.

"Leo!" cried Donnie.

"You okay, bro?!" Raph exclaimed.

Leo sat up as Splinter wrapped bandages around his bite wound. "Yeah, I think so." Then he turned to glare at the little creature that laid unconscious at the bottom of a tree.

"That thing better be dead," Raph spat.

"Shut up!" Mikey shouted back. He carried her in his arms and gently shook her awake. "Rinji...please wake up!" All he got was a slight moan and a shudder. "Master Splinter! You could've killed her!"

"You're caring for that thing, which just so happened to almost kill our own brother, and not said brother?!" Don hissed.

"She's not a thing!" Mikey snapped.

"You were right, Leo. She's more of a threat to us," Raph glared hatefully, "especially now that she knows the truth. There's no controlling her."

"And she can't help it!" Mikey said. "She just remembered the truth, and found her mom's dead, decayed body! You think she wouldn't freak out?!"

"Oh, I expected her to flip," Raph stepped forward, "I didn't expect her to go all freaky monster in the blink of an eye!"

"It's not her fault!" Mikey yelled.

"Quit saying that!"

"Yame!" Splinter demanded and stepped forward. Raph backed away as the rodent approached Mikey and the limp creature.

"Please, Sensei," Mikey begged as much as he could, "she still needs our help! We can't leave her alone, Rinji needs us...she needs me."

"She attacked your brother," Yoshi boomed.

"I know, but she didn't mean to, I'm sure," Mikey said. "Please, we can't leave her! She has nothing left anymore except us! She's lost everything because of that monster!"

Splinter mentally gasped; his son had a great point. She lost everything because of a mad man and became this creature by his doing...Yoshi himself lost everything because of a mad man, resulting in him becoming this humanoid animal.

But his sons came first. He shook his head and walked away.

Horrified, Mikey fell to his knees and cried with Rinji still in his arms. He heard his father say to his brothers, "Do what you can to separate them," and he returned back to the lair.

Raphael was the first to act. Moving quickly, he zoomed past Mikey, snatching Rinji from his arms. "I know the perfect way to get rid of you, you fucking monster."

"RAPH! STOP!" Mikey wailed and chased after him, but Donnie held him back while Leo went to join Raph down in the sewers. "NO, STOP!"

Raph and Leo raced down the tunnels and stopped at a flooded river of flashing waters. Holding Rinji by her tail he held her over the water. "How dare you hurt my brother!" Leo stood behind him, cradling his wounded hand, waiting for Raph's grip to loosen.

Rinji moaned and opened her eyes to see a rush of water below her, and noticed she was being held up by her tail, by Raphael. She knew what was happening, and in a panic she screamed and hugged herself.

Raph frowned at the crying creature hatefully, and loosened his grip for a second. Rinji wailed and turned to Raph with large, tear-glistening eyes. He growled. "You hurt my brother...you don't deserve to..." He kept getting lost in her eyes. Mikey's distant cries rang in his head, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

At the last second, he tossed her to Leo.


	7. Chapter 7

**I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING TMNT RELATED!**

Summary: The turtles finally let their hatred towards Rinji over her "transformation" and her actions go after somehow suddenly connecting with her.

This chapter will be very short. Too much writer's block -_-

* * *

In his domed chamber of molten rock and stone, Kuragari arose from his throne, gripping his long nails on the skull which rested on the top of his staff. Standing tall and eerily, he slowly made his way to the center of his chamber, raised his head, and took in a deep breath. Then, letting out a raspy exhale, his bearded lips slowly curled to a menacing grin.

"...Neko-Me Kitunse...I can...feel you...see you...taste...you...Your aura...it is...beautiful...Must...have...it..." He hid himself in his black cloak, and headed for the exit of his chamber, slipping into the shadows, following the scent of the Foxling.

* * *

Leo gawked at Raph as he caught Rinji in the air. The red-clad turtle breathed heavily before falling to his knees.

"I...I can't do it..." Raph gasped. Leo could barely hear over Rinji's sobbing. "I just...just couldn't."

Leo didn't know whether to be angry or concerned. His focus kept on traveling from his brother to the Foxling that quivered in his arms. He glared hatefully at her, not a single care in his mind that she had lost everything. She just bit his hand, deliberately, at that. He didn't care if his youngest brother begged his broken heart out for them to let her stay. He was right; she was a threat to them, far more than they could be one to her.

Rinji trembled in his arms as she hid her eyes behind her clenched fists and cried. She sobbed uncontrollably from fear and guilt; she didn't mean to bite Leo's hand at all. Mikey spoke the truth, she couldn't control it. That phase was completely new to her, it had never happened before, mainly because she couldn't remember all that had happened before. But she knew it didn't matter to Leo, she knew he wouldn't forgive her for it. None of them would. The others hated her. She couldn't even bear to look at him in the eye, and she could feel his cold glare on her.

"What stopped you, Raph?!" Leo exclaimed, setting Rinji on the ground.

Raph knelt where he was and replied, "I just...Something in me just...I-I don't know!" He clutched the sides of his head. "Something kept pulling me back! I dunno what but something did!" Then he remembered when he looked into her eyes, and when he did the first time after he pulled her tail. Then it hit him. All the hatred he had for her only seconds ago, it vanished. It was all replaced by this cramp in his heart. Why was he feeling this? It kind of scared him.

"RINJI!" Mikey cried as he raced down the tunnel with Donnie close behind him. The youngest turtle scooped up the Foxling and cradled her as she sobbed, clinging to him. "I-it's okay...it's okay..." he glared at his brothers. "See?! Can't you see she's scared?!" While Leo and Don both snarled, Raph shuddered in his place. "I don't care that Sensei said you 'had to separate us'! I won't let you hurt her anymore!"

"In case you forgot, Mikey," Leo growled, holding out his bandaged hand, "SHE BIT ME."

"She didn't mean to! Besides, she only did it because you threatened to stab her or something with your swords," Mikey spat.

"I was just defending myself, and trying to save you!" Leo shouted. "She was going to attack you, and she would have if I hadn't jumped in front of you!"

"Leonardo's right," Don agreed. "And as said before, now that she knows her past, and clearly she's traumatized by it, there's no telling when she will...morph, again!"

"I'm not abandoning her!" Mikey cried, hugging Rinji tightly. "If you get rid of her, then I'm going with her!"

Don sighed frustratedly. "Mikey-"

"I'M SERIOUS! It was an accident when Rinji bit Leo! I'm certain it was! Please guys, she has nothing, now, and now she knows it, and she really won't if we just throw her away," Mikey hollered.

"We understand she has nothing, but that is the least of our concerns," Leo frowned deeply.

Rinji tried her best to show she was sorry. She wriggled free from Mikey's grip and held onto Leo's leg, nuzzling it as she cried. "Get offa me," he demanded as he held his leg in the air, shaking it.

"See? She's trying to say she's sorry, Leo," Mikey said. "But you're too blinded by anger to see that. And that's normally an issue with Raph, not you."

Leo yanked Rinji from his leg and held her up, but she just clung to his arm, doing everything she could to get him to forgive her. "Quit hugging me!" he shouted as he tried to pry Rinji free, but she held fast onto him.

"I said, quit-!" He froze once he got a good look at her. Her whole face was glistened with tears, her voice was scratchy from wailing, her whole body shook like a leaf, and she rubbed her cheek up and down his forearm. Just like Raph, the anger vanished, but he kept his face appearing displeased. He watched tear after tear fall from her eyes and splatter on the ground below him. Then he listened; the way she cried, it...he couldn't describe it. Then out of nowhere Leo felt this tightness in his chest, right where his heart was. It cramped, and he couldn't catch his breath. When he tried to breathe, it hurt, like his throat was burning.

Mikey easily noticed the sudden change in behavior in his brother and he slightly smiled.

Leo's then softened his face and felt his throat tighten as he watched the Foxling cry and nuzzle him simultaneously. Then, when all hatred for her had completely been erased from his mind, he pulled her in close and hugged her, then fell to his knees. "...Oh, God, Rinji...I-I...I'm so so sorry...I...Have no idea what came over me...I had never felt...so much anger...towards someone...Oh, God, I can't talk right!" Leo fell silent and just squeezed her. Mikey crawled to them and wrapped his arms over them, nuzzling his older brother.

Don was the next one to let his anger subside. His eyes followed each teardrop fall from Rinji's eyes, then he suddenly felt her same pain. He sighed and got down on his knees and joined the huddle.

Raph finally stood up from where he knelt and ran, literally ran, to the huddle. "...I-I never...felt...so much pain...in all m-my life..."

"We're sorry, Rinji," Donnie whispered. "...We really are."

"Just promise us you won't turn again, please," Leo weakly laughed.

Rinji's crying reduced to sniffles as a quivering smile grew on her face. She could tell by the tone of their voices, and the steadiness of their heartbeats, that they really were sorrowful. She nuzzled Leo, indicating she did promise.

Splinter followed his sons down the tunnel and hid in the shadows, seeing the realization return to his three eldest. He smiled and returned to the dojo, knowing his sons would head back themselves...and they would bring the Foxling with them.


	8. Chapter 8

**I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING TMNT RELATED!**

Summary: The turtles and Rinji come across Kuragari.

Hamato Yoshi was meditating, reaching the 45-minute point when he heard the footsteps of his sons slowly enter the lair. Among each of their auras, he sensed peace. No anger, no pain, no hatred. Just peace. Including in Rinji. He smiled, knowing all was well between the turtles and the little Foxling. As he predicted.

Rinji was asleep with a smile on her face in Mikey's arms, and Mikey nuzzled her. Everyone was exhausted after the events from earlier; with Rinji discovering the cold, dreadful truth, her bizarre transformation, and trying to keep each other alive. The turtles just collapsed onto the couch and dozed off instantly while Mikey laid down slowly, pulling a blanket up to his chin and over Rinji's body. He softly hummed, rocking back and forth and sang:

_"Hushabye, don't you cry  
go to sleep, sweet little baby  
When you wake, you shall have  
all the pretty little horses  
Dapples and greys,  
pintos and bays,  
all the pretty little horses._

_"Hushabye, don't you cry_  
_dream away, sweet little baby_  
_When you dream, you shall see_  
_all the pretty little horses_  
_Dapples and greys,_  
_pintos and bays,_  
_all the pretty little horses._

_"Hushabye, don't you cry_  
_Have no fear, o precious baby_  
_I am here, within you_  
_as the pretty little horses_  
_Dapples and greys,_  
_pintos and bays,_  
_all the pretty little horses."_

When he finished, Mikey heard Rinji sniffling and felt her body shake. He glanced down to see her crying again. She now knew why the lullaby felt so familiar when Mikey first sang it to her; her mother sang the same song. Somehow Mikey knew this, and he rubbed her head. "Shhh, it's okay, Rinji," he whispered. "I know you miss her very much, but she's not really gone. She will always be a part of you, right in here." He pointed to her heart and smiled. Rinji sniffled and wiped her eyes before falling back asleep, Michelangelo following her lead not long after that.

* * *

Kuragari slipped from the shadows in the collapsed sewer tunnel. His raspy breathing cleared and his grip on the skull that sat stop his staff tightened, his long nails digging into the fresh scalp. He took in a long deep breath and sighed pleasurably, grinning.

"Your scent...Neko-Me Kitsune...it is greater down this path...Your aura...it is magnificent...It is so close, I can...I can almost taste it...Your power...it is overwhelming...overwhelmingly amazing...I must have it...I must...tend to this...conniving hunger...for power...Power only you can give...I will find you...You are...this way..."

He followed the tunnel, gliding past the debris he had caused, and headed straight for the lair.

* * *

A sound disrupted Rinji's sleep and she sat up, perking her ears up. She listened closely, twitching her ears. She heard heavy, slow shuffling, and it was getting louder and louder.

There was also deep, faint breaths. They were familiar.

In a panic, she tried shaking Mikey and his brothers awake, with no success. They were all fast asleep. She tried tickling them with her tail, but all she got was a stir from each turtle. She was reduced to letting out her newest sound: she screamed at the top of her lungs.

That certainly got them up and on their feet. Startled, they drew out their weapons and pointed it at the source of the scream: a panicky Foxling.

"Oh. Sorry, Rinji," Leo pulled back his swords. "What's the matter?"

"Did Mikey's snoring scare ya?" Raph chortled.

Mikey glared. "Very funny." Raph nodded in agreement.

"Guys," Don glared, then glanced kindly down at Rinji. "What's the problem?"

Rinji's ears twitched and she pointed at the lair entrance. The turtles turned to that direction, but they saw nothing there. "What, you see something?" asked Mikey. Rinji shook her head.

"Is someone coming this way?" Leo said. Rinji's eyes widened, indicating a yes. Leo re-drew out his katanas and pointed them towards the lair entrance. "Keep alert, guys."

"My sons."

The mutant ninjas turned around to see Master Splinter enter the living area. "What are you doing?"

"Rinji thinks someone's heading this way," Raph explained. Splinter eyed the little creature and saw the look of concern on her face.

He frowned. "I do not hear or see anything," the humanoid rat said. Rinji's ears twitch and she gasped, pointing urgently at the entrance.

"Neither do we, but if Rinji's freaked out about it," Mikey said as he twirled his nun-chucks, "then we need to take it seriously."

The sounds Rinji hears are to light for anyone else to hear at first. But after a minute they could hear the shuffling and labored breathing as well. "Someone's coming," Donnie whispered.

"Ya think, brainiac?" Raph said as he flipped his sais at the lair entrance. They each started getting chills as the shuffling and the heavy breathing grew louder and louder. Then it just suddenly stopped.

"Where is it? It just stopped," said Leo.

Rinji shuddered and listened closely. Not a single sound. No shuffling, no breathing. maybe the comer went away?

No.

A black mass stepped from the shadows behind Splinter, and Leo saw it just out of the corner of his eye. "SENSEI! BEHIND YOU!"

Splinter turned around and saw a figure hooded in a long black cloak; but he didn't have time to react and defend against the jab at the neck he received. Splinter became dizzy all of a sudden and fell forward.

"Master Splinter!" the turtles cried. They tried to aid him, but the figure lunged forward so suddenly they stopped dead in their tracks. But he gazed beyond and behind them.

Rinji whimpered.

The hooded figure snarled. "...Neko-Me Kitsune," he said.

Rinji's fear went away; only one person called her that. Her fear was replaced with anger, and she growled ferociously. She felt her new ability build up within her, but she kept it under control.

"So...you must be Kuragari," said Leo.

"Indeed," the hooded one replied.

Mikey jumped forward. "Well you're not laying one finger on Rinji's head, or tail, you...you murderer!"

The warlock laughed. "'Rinji'. What a pathetic name for a vile creature like her."

"She's not vile! You're the vile creature here," Raph exclaimed with a growl.

"Oh, she is. You have seen the kind of work of nature she can transform into when deeply provoked, no?" Kuragari sneered.

"So?" Leo said, tightening his wounded hand.

"Have you any idea of how much power it takes to activate such magnificently vicious abilities?"

"What's it to you?" Donnie said.

"I desire such power...of course, I know what must be done in order to gain it." Kuragari revealed his staff and pointed the skull towards her. "Dear child, gaze at this skull. Does it not jog your memory...of that night?" Rinji snarled. "Do you recall whose skull this belongs to...or should I say, belonged?" Rinji gasped; the image of the woman's head slipping from her body came across her eyes. When it cleared she growled. She did know who it belonged to. How she prayed she didn't.

Mikey trembled with rage. "You...you...you monster!" Lunging forward, he drew out his kusarigama and swung it. But Kuragari stepped out of the way, and Mikey fell plastron-first to the floor.

"Mikey!" Raph exclaimed. "I'll kill you!" He lunged at the wicked warlock with his sais held out in front of him. Kuragari revealed his ringed hand and bent his thumb downward then up; a chunk of the floor lifted up and sent Raph to the ceiling.

"How did he do that?!" Don exclaimed as he drew out his staff and revealed the blade at one of the ends, jumping forward. Kuragari grabbed the staff and twirled it, sending it, and Donnie, flying around him, then he tossed them over him.

Leo stood in front of Rinji with his swords ready. Kuragari took a light step towards him and motioned his middle finger; Leo suddenly felt numb. Then his limbs were moving on their own, following the direction of Kuragari's finger. "W-What...what is this?!"

"I have the ability to control all water...every kind of water. Including the water in your body," the warlock snarled, curling his finger. Leo lurched forward, his left arm bent behind him and his right leg bent upward. He cried out in sheer pain as his limbs were being bent the way they shouldn't be.

Rinji didn't know how to react, only to watch horrified. This monster was hurting her friend...like he had hurt someone she truly cared for..._Mommy_...

With a yell she jumped onto the warlock and bit at his extended arm; with a cry Kuragari released his hold on Leo, who fell to the ground, exhausted and dizzy. Kuragari shook her off and she landed against the wall with a yelp, then fell. Kuragari exclaimed a growl and hissed, "You freaks, getting in the way of my deepest desire...You should know that those who interfere...they perish, slowly, painfully...And I shall say, I have never tasted mutant flesh in all my life...I now am destined to find out...But not yet. I must do what I came for."

Just as he headed for Rinji's motionless body, Raph fell from the ceiling and landed shell-first on the warlock, knocking him to the ground. Raph laughed. "Today's forecast: cloudy, with a chance of turtles!"

Don got up and helped Mikey to his feet. "You okay, bro?"

"Yeah, I think so," Mikey groaned. He then stomped over to Kuragari and kicked him in the ribs. "And stay down, you vicious creep-o!" Mikey then raced over to Rinji's side and held her in his arms. "Rinji, are you alright?"

The Foxling fluttered her eyes open and moaned. Seeing Mikey's friendly face she smiled and pawed at his chin. Mikey chuckled and hugged her. "Don't you worry, Rinji. That mean, old cannibalistic hooded creep won't bother you anymore." Rinji wanted to believe that, but she couldn't.

There was a whoosh sound from behind them. Mikey turned to see Leo, Raph, and Donnie missing. Including Kuragari. "Bros? Where are you?!" he cried as he stood up. He noticed Master Splinter still unconscious on the floor and ran to him. "Sensei?! Sensei, wake up! Something freaky's going down, man! Master Splinter!" It was useless; the pressure point Kuragari hit on his neck sent him into a temporary coma, leaving him unresponsive. Rinji whimpered and hid in Mikey's neck. He patted her back and backed up into the middle of the lair. "That creep's gone, and so are my bros. He must've taken them! We gotta find them, and quick before he eats them clean from the inside!"

Rinji suddenly saw the woman's hollow body, and Kuragari's blood-stained face, right before her eyes, then the turtles quickly took her place. She snarled at the thought of her friends having to suffer the same fate. Wriggling free from Mikey's grip, she ran on all fours to the lair entrance and stepped into the sewers, then turned back to Mikey. "You want me to follow?" he asked her. She glared and bounced her head once. Mikey chased after her down the tunnel as she, using her fox-side, followed the warlock's scent. After a ten minute race, they came across a a steep staircase.

"Whoa..." Mikey gasped. Rinji anxiously hopped down the first few steps to realize Mikey wasn't behind her. She turned to him to see him shaking like a leaf. "They...they're down there?" Rinji gave a nod. Mikey shuddered. "I can't help but wonder what he could be doing to them... he's probably scalping them...ripping them limb from limb...feasting on their innards and making things out of their skin and shells!" He let out a cry and his his face in his hands. Rinji nudged him gently and gave him a friendly smile, telling him that it was okay. He smiled and got to his feet. "Let's go," he said, and they slowly made their way down the staircase.

Once they reached the bottom, a wave of heat hit them, and a strange glow of orange could be seen at the end. They came across a deep cavern, and down the narrow path was a rusted railroad track. The dirt around it was shuffled. "There must've been a fight here, or a tussle," Mikey presumed. Then he gazed down the cavern. "Damn, this thing must go on for miles!" He didn't notice Rinji was already a good twenty feet ahead of him and tried to catch up with her. "Hey, wait up!"

The path went on for a good three miles, which normally took about four hours to walk. But since they ran, it took less than an hour to get to the end. At the end of the tracks, they crossed a narrow entrance, and entered a large domed chamber. "Stick to the shadows," Mikey told Rinji, and they stood against the curved wall. They could see the other turtles' unconscious bodies piled on top of each other, and Kuragari towered above them.

His hood was removed. His face was white and wrinkly, his eyes were so dark you couldn't tell the pupil from the iris, he had only a faint layer of hair on his scalp, and his beard hung to his knees. He looked like a Freddy Kruger reject. His teeth were jagged, his mouth salivating, and he slowly bent downward, picked up Donnie's arm, and got ready to sink his jaws into it.

Mikey jumped from the wall and twirled his nun-chucks. "Don't you eat my brother, you cannibalistic monstrosity!" he bellowed. Rinji crept up and hid behind his legs.

Leo raised his head slowly. "M-Mikey...get...outta here."

"No way, bro! Not without you," Mikey cried.

"No, you idiot," Raph wheezed. "It's...all a trap!"

"Get outta here," Don moaned. "You and Rinji, get out of here!"

Kuragari leaped onto Mikey and pinned him to the ground. Rinji yelped and leaped to the side. The warlock drooled onto Mikey and licked his neck. "I must imagine...for a freak of nature...you have quite a wondrous taste of flesh."

"GET OFF OF MY BROTHER!" Raph jumped up taking in a deep breath and kicked him off of Mikey. Then he suddenly collapsed and clutched his stomach.

"Raph! You okay?" Mikey asked, helping his brother to his feet.

"H-He...drained us," Raph slurred. He revealed a bite mark in his left leg. "D-Did...the same thing with Leo an' Don...God I feel so dizzy."

Mikey gasped them growled in fury. Setting Raph down gently he turned to Kuragari, who held the squirming Foxling by her tail. "Rinji! Get away from her!" He swung his kusarigama at the warlock-only to have him holding Rinji out in front of him, letting the blade graze across her chest. She shrieked in pain; it barely caused any bleeding, but it still hurt. "RINJI!" Mikey shrilled.

Leo drew out his katana. "What an...idiot you are...for not...disarming us...of our weapons!" He lunged at Kuragari and swung his swords, just barely missing the hooded warlock. He swung behind him but missed again. Kuragari dodged each of Leonardo's attempts to hit him with his swords. He tossed Rinji aside and she landed next to Raph.

She gazed at his pale green face in horror. He opened his eyes and smiled weakly. "H-Hey, kid," he said slurry. She blinked back tears; he may be hiding it, but Rinji could see the pain behind his smile. She nuzzled him. "H-Hey, it's okay..." he whispered. "God...so much o' my blood is gone." Rinji noticed his wound was still fresh. She pressed it down, tore off a piece of her shirt and tied it around his leg. He chuckled. "I keep forgetting you have a human side...ow..." He fainted. Rinji's rage welled up in her, but she restrained it.

"MIKEY, LOOK OUT!" Rinji heard Leo shout and turned to see the blue-clad turtle ready to land on the warlock, who was standing over a battered Michelangelo. Just as Leo was about to plunge his swords into Kuragari, the warlock spun around and bent his middle ringed finger. Leo's sword dug into his leg. Deep.

"LEO!" Mikey cried at the top of his lungs. Loe collapsed to the ground and bounced to the other side of the chamber. Crying, Rinji raced to his side. The sword went clean through his leg, and possibly the bone. He sobbed agonizingly as he clutched his leg. Rinji couldn't do anything to help, and she cried.

Raph sat up in a panic and gazed at the sight only feet away from him. "LEO!" Donatello helped him stand up. "We...we gotta do it."

Don gazed at him confused. "Do what?" he asked as Mikey raced to their side. Raphael gave him a look, it was confidence and fear; Donnie knew what it meant and nodded his head.

Raph then turned towards the Foxling. "Rinji!" She turned to him. "Look what that vile monster has done! He's hurt Leo! Completely used his own weapon against him!" Rinji couldn't fight the anger she had. A low growl rumbled from within her, and she began shuddering.

Don cried out next. "Let's also not forget what he did to your mother! He completely decapitated her! Slaughtered her to pieces, and ate her clean! He has her skull on his fucking staff! Such a monster doesn't deserve to live, does he?!"

Rinji let out a retch and dug her nails into the ground. Her whole body trembled as images of her slaughtered mother flashed across her closed eyes.

Mikey added, "He's taking everything from you! Hurting those you deeply care about! He killed you mother! He tried to kill you and Leo, and us! When really the one who deserves to die is that asshole in the clock over there!"

Rinji yelled a menacing growl. She could feel it building up in her...but she didn't let it take control.

"What's she doing?" Raph asked. "She needs to change!"

Don's eyes wide. "I know what...she's keeping her promise." He cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted, "Rinji, you need to change! You have the power to stop him! We know you can do it! Don't you want to avenge your mother?!"

Rinji managed to lift her head and made eye contact with Leo. She shook violently as tears fell from her eyes. Leo gazed at her, trying to figure out what she's trying to say. Then hearing his brothers' cries, he knew. Then, wincing, he gave a nod.

That was all she needed.

She backed away from Leo and released the tension she had welled up inside. She roared as the fur on her ears and tail ruffled, and her nails turned into claws once more. But then she stopped. She slowly stood up with weary breaths and turned to face the warlock. Rinji opened her eyes; they were pale gold with the red, narrow slits down the middle. Her mouth was full of jagged teeth, her clawed hands twitched, and she flashed her eyes.

Kuragari grinned evilly. "The Neko-Me Kitsune has awakened."


	9. Chapter 9

**I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING TMNT RELATED!**

Summary: It's the battle of the century...or whatever. Rinji uses her ability to go up against Kuragari...Little do anyone, except the warlock, know that is when Rinji is most vulnerable, leaving the turtles to finish the job.

Kuragari stood on one end of the chamber, and Rinji stood on the other. As they helped Leo get the sword from his leg, the turtles kept moving their eyes from the warlock to Rinji, then repeat that over and over again until someone made the first move.

That first to move is the Foxling.

Rinji let her full ability take over, and she collapsed on all fours, grunting and retching violently. Before everyone's eyes, in a ring of blinding light, her clothes vanished, she became covered with fur of filthy orange, her hands and feet turned into paws, and a snout grew on her face. She let out a roar-slash-howl; she was a full cat-eyed fox.

Kuragari grinned. "Neko-Me Kitsune...at last, we meet again." Rinji snarled and hunched her back, the fur along her spine standing on end. Her lips curled and rose up like curtains, revealing the set of white, talon-like teeth. "Ahh...your aura...it is magnificent...It shall be mine...with the power you possess in your form, I will be eternally unstoppable! And all with perish...just like your mother."

Wailing a howl-like shriek, Rinji sprung forward, gaping her mouth and sunk her teeth into his leg. He exclaimed and swung his staff down on her, and she flew up against the wall. She quickly reverted to human form, then transformed back to her hideous fox appearance before she landed on all fours. She glared at him through her cat-like eyes and lunged forward with a deep growl.

The turtles just sat by and watched. "This is crazy," Raph gaped.

Leo winced as he tried to get on his knees. "Crazy-_nngh-_doesn't even begin to describe it."

"Should we do something?" Donnie asked worriedly.

Mikey shook his head. "No. This is her fight. If she needs help then we'll jump in." The others surprisingly agreed and nodded, then turned their gazes back at the brawl before them.

Rinji howled as she and Kuragari slowly circled around the chamber. He suddenly bent his ringed middle finger and twisted it. But Rinji was unfazed. He bent his thumb and brought up a chunk of molten rock; Rinji easily avoided it. He bent his ring finger and snapped them, creating fire at his fingertips. The horrific Foxling roared, and the flames burned out. Then flicking his pinky finger, he sent a blast of wind at the fox. All that moved was the fur on her body. While she remained motionless, the turtles were knocked down to the ground.

Kuragari grinned. "You use your great abilities without knowing," he said. "Your current formation keeps you invulnerable to my powers...and I intend to remove that!" He lunged forward as quick as his winds with the pointed end of his staff aiming straight for Rinji's neck.

"Rinji, look out!" Mikey cried.

The cat-eyed fox leaped out of the way, but his staff went through her leg. She yelped and managed to squirm free, but she tore her muscle. Every step she made sent agonizing pain through her body, but she dared not let it faze her, nor interfere with what she had on her mind: slaughter the foul being who killed the last thing she had of family.

Donnie examined her wound from his distance. "That looks really bad. The wrong move and she could severely damage it."

Leo turned to his youngest brother. "Is now the time to jump in?"

Mikey gazed worriedly at his friend, flinching each time she limped. He swallowed hard and glared. "No. Not yet. She's still standing."

"She won't be standing if we just sit here and do nothing!" Raph said as he began wheezing again.

"You can't do anything, Raph. He took the most blood from you because you kept on thrashing around," Donnie informed him.

Raph glared and rubbed his bite mark where Rinji wrapped a piece of her shirt to stop the bleeding. He stood up slowly, using the wall for support, and gripped one sai in his hand. He wanted to be ready. Just in case.

Kuragari moved swiftly around Neko-Me Kitsune, swinging his staff over and over again. Many swings she avoided, and some she knew hit her because many wounds that weren't there started bleeding, dripping down her body and onto the floor. The warlock licked the blood off of his staff and sighed pleasurably. "Oh, what a joy it will be in killing you, child." He advanced towards her once more, but Rinji jumped out of the way. However, Kuragari dug his nails into her leg wound an tugged. She yelped and cried in pain as he rose her up in the air. "Now to end it all and have all the power in the world." He was ready to plunge his staff into her neck when-

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

Kuragari turned to see the four turtles ready for combat, all glaring hatefully with their weapons drawn. The warlock laughed. "This does not concern you four. At least...not now. I will deal with you after I rip this creature limb from limb."

Limb from limb...limb...from limb...

Rinji snapped; the image of her mother and friends being torn to shreds haunted her. Fiery anger she had never felt before consumed her, and she sank her jagged teeth into his ringed hand. He screamed and released his hold on her wound. Rinji dug her teeth further into his bone and flesh and shook her body, sawing his hand. Then she suddenly fell. His hand fell with her.

The turtles watched in horror as Rinji spat out the hand; it fell over the edge of the border, and it plummeted into the pool of lava. Kuragari screeched in pain as he clutched his severed wrist. Dark blood oozed from his wound and pooled at his feet. He shook and glared at the cat-eyed fox. "You...YOU LITTLE FUCKING FREAK!"

"Need I reminded you, YOU CREATED HER!" Donnie shouted as he used his Bo staff for support.

kuragari sneered at the turtles...then his face softened. "You...you are right..." He straightened himself up and clutched his staff with his only hand. "A fool, I am. I cannot destroy my own creations at will...But" he glared at them with a sinister smile, "I can destroy the ones she cares for." He ran light on his feet with his staff pointed out to the turtles, ready to impale the youngest one.

"MIKEY! MIKEY GET OUT OF THE WAY!" his brothers shouted, but Mikey stood in shock. Then the warlock's staff impaled.

But it wasn't Mikey.

The orange-clad turtle paled. "...R-Rin-ji...?"

The fox had leaped in the way. The staff went clean through her chest, breaking ribs and piercing flesh. Blood trickled out of the wound and down the staff to Kuragari's fingertips. He grinned menacingly as he lifted his staff slowly high in the air. Rinji gurgled as her body slid slowly down the staff. Then he swung his staff and her body flew against the wall and fell limply. As she fell she reverted to human form and landed with an echoing thud in the deep cavern, only feet away from the edge of the lava pool.

Kuragari inhaled deeply and he suddenly became more muscular, a bit taller, and a faint ring of light illuminated around him. His voice seemed more deeper, as well. "What power...such amazing power...and it is mine!"

Mikey trembled. His eyes stung with tears and he gritted his teeth. He noticed a bit of Rinji's blood had dripped on his hands. He felt unexplainable anger; his chest felt tight and his cheeks burned with rage. He let out an enraged growl and took out his kusarigama. "You...you...YOU!" He tackled the warlock and pounded him with all his might.

The other turtles felt the same rage their youngest brother had and joined in. Leo fell behind a bit because of his leg, but he still managed to fight.

But Kuragari's strength was far too great; with one arm sweep he sent Raph and Donnie flying. With a kick he launched Mikey many feet in the air and crash into the furthest wall. He knocked Leo to the ground just by flicking his leg. Each of the turtles tried to get up but were too weak. Leo couldn't because of his damaged leg, and the oncoming infection made his head spin, Donnie hit his head against the molten rock wall and everything spun, Raph hit the ground and was still woozy from losing the most blood, and Mikey hit the wall on his shell, sending him into brief shock, but regained himself when he landed on the ground.

Mikey eyed his brothers' motionless bodies all around him. He knew they were alive, but they all seemed lifeless the way their bodies were sprawled out across the ground. He trembled as he suddenly imagined himself in Rinji's place.

Rinji...

He pictured her body laying there in that cavern, just across the chamber, not the slightest movement, swimming in a pool of her own blood, wanting it to end then and there...

Adrenaline blocked all pain in his body, and Mikey managed to get to his knees. He crawled over to Leo, since he was the closest to him. "L-Leo," he grunted. "You okay?"

Leo winced and bit his lip. "...y-yeah...sorta..." He wearily gazed into his youngest brother's eyes; he saw something he thought he'd never see in those innocent eyes. He saw hatred, anger, pain, things he'd normally see in Raph's eyes or his own.

"Leo."

"...Yeah, Mikey...?"

"...We have to kill him."

Leo mentally gasped; not just at what Mikey said, but the fact he said it. There was no point in doubting it. Mikey was certain this was the only way. He could read it in his eyes. Leo nodded slowly and sat up. "You ain't doing this alone, little brother." He weakly grinned. Mikey smiled and helped his eldest brother to his feet.

Then Leo's eyes went wide. "Donnie! Raph!"

Mikey turned to see Kuragari holding Raph by his neck and pressing Donnie to the ground with his foot. Both appeared to be suffocating. Kuragari laughed at the squirming creatures in his grasp. "Pathetic, worthless creatures! More worthless than that brat! No matter. Once I finish you all off, I will have nothing left to stop me!"

Donatello spotted his staff laying next to him with the Naginata blade activated. It was just out of his reach, but he had to try. He extended his arm out as far as he could to reach his staff; his fingers could just barely touch the cracked wood. Straining himself got him nor Raphael nowhere. Raph squeaked as he tried to gasp for one single breath, but it was proved futile. He began to black out and his body felt cold. Soon his limbs went numb and limp, and he completely relaxed. Kuragari let out a raspy laugh.

Mikey also saw his older brother's staff so close to his grasp. He knew he wouldn't make it in time to hand him his staff before the warlock squashed Donnie, so Mikey threw a stone at Kuragari, hitting him in the back of his head. This distracted the warlock, loosening his hold on Raph and lifting his foot off of Donnie, giving him the chance to grab his Naginata. He tossed it like a javelin and it struck the villain in the shoulder. The warlock screamed and stumbled backwards, hugging his shoulder. Donnie crawled to Raph, who was gagging and wheezing. "You good, bro?" he said. Raph gave a thumb's up as he coughed. Mikey carried Leo and ran to them, helping them both up to their feet.

"You two okay?" Leo asked his younger brothers.

"y-yeah...you?" Raph gasped.

"Been better," Leo winced.

The four turtles turned towards Kuragari, who struggled to yank Donnie's staff from his shoulder. He stumbled backwards closer and closer to the edge of the chamber floor; below it was a 200-foot drop into the lava pool. Mikey had an idea. Leo, Donnie, and Raph leaped forward and landed in front of him, their weapons ready for a fight.

"FOOLS!" Kuragari boomed. "Your skills are no match for my superior power! I am a God! I can easily destroy you! I have faced wars far greater than those on earth...I have lived ages, seen creatures far foul than you four half-shelled freaks!" he rose his arms up and got ready to swing.

Leo smirked. "Yeah, I'm sure that's true...But I have to ask you one quick question before you kill us." Kuragari briefly lowered his hand. Leo grinned widely and said, "Have you ever gone against NINJA TURTLES before?!"

Then the three eldest ducked as Mikey jumped over them and slammed his foot right in the middle of the warlock's chest. It was rather forceful; just enough to have Kuragari totter backwards over the edge. His staff slipped from his hands and clattered at Mikey's feet. Raph snatched it and snapped it on his knees as Mikey stood at the edge. He and his brothers watched the warlock plummet so slowly downward into the cavern and sploshed in the lava pit. He sank so quickly he didn't have time to scream.

Then there was silence. Not a single breath from anyone-

Mikey had a sickening feeling in his stomach as he turned to his brothers on his heels. "RINJI!" At that instant, they all ran to the side of the chamber the Foxling fell from, slid down the wall and stumbled once they reached the bottom. Mikey got to his feet first; while his brothers halted in fear, Mikey ran to where his friend lay. He stopped once he got to her side. She appeared to be asleep, asleep in a pool of her own blood; her tail had twisted, one of her ears were horrifically bent, and she had several, several bruises and cuts on her body, plus the countless open wounds: her head...her chest...

Mikey squeaked as he collapsed to his knees and took the Foxling in his arms. She felt sticky and cold. "R-Rinji...please, wake up..." he gently shook her. No response. The tears that welled up in his eyes finally spilled over and dripped on the small child's face. His body shook, but he was unable to accept the truth. "Rinji...please...open your eyes...Lemme see your pretty eyes...R-Rinji?" He lifted one of her heavy eyelids. Her brown eyes, once so full of life, were grey and glossy. He pressed a quivering hand on her neck. As he feared.

Nothing.

"No..." Mikey still couldn't face it. "No-no-no-no! Rinji...! Rinji! Please...p-please wake up...!" He rocked back and forth cradling her small, battered body. He had never felt so enraged in all his 15-year-old life. How could such a monster do this to such an innocent child? Mikey was covered in her blood; he didn't care. He just wanted his friend alive. "...R-Rinji..." his throat tightened up and all that came out were whispers or mouthed words. The only loud sounds that escaped the young turtle were his anguished sobs. They shrilled throughout the chamber, throughout the cavern, up to the sewers.

Leo, Raph, and Don only watched, just as heartbroken as their baby brother, but they could never bear the pain he felt that very moment. Donnie pressed one hand to his mouth in utter shock as his own tears slipped down his fingers and his arm. With Raph still dizzy from loss of blood, the point of hiding his sobs was lost, and he just let it out. Leo, granted permission to use Don's staff as a supporter, felt his body grow so numb he couldn't feel his own tears dripping from his chin. He crept towards his brother and rested a friendly hand on his head. Then, dropping the staff and collapsing, not caring about the surges of pain, he hugged Mikey and cried heavily. Raph and Don just stood there horrified, but wrapped an arm around one another.

The air seemed thicker and darker.

There was no point for hope now. She was gone.


	10. Chapter 10

**I DO NOT OWN**- ehh, ya know what i mean.

Summary: none. NO SPOILERS!

* * *

Michelangelo wouldn't leave.

His brothers have tried countless times for hours to tell their youngest brother to let go. But how could he? His dearest friend, whom he had found and named, who was so full of vigor and life, was now laying motionless in his convulsing arms. He wouldn't leave...at least not by his brothers' wishes. He would leave when he wanted to.

As each minute would pass by Rinji's body felt a bit lighter; most of her blood was either a dried up sticky puddle, drenched in her clothes or all over herself and Mikey. Her skin was close to white with no sign of life in it. Mikey played with her fingers, curling and extending them. They would either unravel or stay in the position Mikey put them in. Really, either way, they weren't moving. They never would again.

Leonardo swallowed the lump in his throat and approached Mikey once more. He laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Mikey," he whispered, "It's time to go...Let her go...she's g-...gone." His voice cracked as he spoke the last word. Mikey didn't want to leave; that meant he had to leave Rinji's body there. But he ached all over. His eyes burned, his body racked with chills, and he felt utterly sick to his stomach. He briefly opened his eyes to get one last look at the frozen Foxling in his grasp, shakily kissed her forehead, then sat her body back on the ground for the first time, laying her on her side, the same position they found her.

Leo did the best he could to get his baby brother to his feet, but in order to do so he strained himself on his severely wounded leg, sending surges of pain throughout his bruised body. Leo groaned and slightly collapsed; Raphael ran to his aid and the two helped Mikey get off the ground. Before Mikey could pull away, they quickly turned him away from Rinji's white, bruised body, and they limped to the exit of the cavern. Raph rested a hand on Mikey's shoulder and tried to smile, but his emotions wouldn't let him. They met up with Donnie and they all headed for the exit.

Mikey began to bawl again and his brothers lowered their heads, letting any tears that came fall and splatter on the dirt. Raphael squeezed his eyes shut, holding his breath, then released it and opened them. He froze a bit. He saw a strange light coming from behind them; it was a turquoise shade of blue. It dimmed then brightened...dimmed then brightened a bit more. Curious, Raph briefly turned his head and peeked out of the corner of his eye; what he saw made him completely turn around. "...M-Mikey..."

Mikey glanced at Raph and wondered why he had a look of shock on his face; then he noticed the strange light illuminating off his hot-headed brother's skin, and he also turned to see where it originated. Shocked at what he saw, he gasped and turned his whole body around. Leo and Donnie did the same thing and gasped sharply. Mikey took a step forward. "...Rinji?"

The turquoise light illuminated from the girl's body, gleaming from her wounds and appeared like smoke. There was a faint humming sound coming form where she laid, and the light shone brighter. The light formed a ring around her and slowly rose a few inches off the ground, then rose higher and higher until a dome formed around her. "What is going on?" Raph croaked. No one had an answer. The turquoise dome illuminated brighter and brighter, and the hum grew louder and louder; it was heavenly and gentle, no matter how high it became. Then the turtles see two shadows within the dome, both too distinct to tell what they were. But they seemed to be splitting. The further they split, the brighter the light, and the louder the hum.

Then the dome imploded and evaporated, leaving a puff of smoke behind. The turtles coughed and sputtered, waving their hands over their faces to keep the smoke from entering their eyes. When they opened their eyes, they stood frozen shock-no other way to describe it.

There laid two bodies before them, both laying still. One was a filthy fox, broken, battered, bloody, the tail was broken, the ear was bent funny, and the jaw was gaping a bit. The other was a girl-not a single scratch on her. Mikey gasped and raced to the girl's side, his brothers not far behind. He held her close to his chest; the girl felt warm to his touch. The fox ears were gone, replaced with regular ones on the sides of her head. The fox tail was gone as well.

Donnie came to realization. "Guys...remember what Splinter said: "in his death will she have her humanity back."

Mikey gasped and raised his head, turning to his brother. "Then...you think maybe...?"

Leo smiled warmly. "One way to find out, Michelangelo."

Mikey was eager, but he didn't want to cause anymore damage, if any in the girl. He pressed a finger against her neck. Then he began to cry and hugged her tightly.

"She's alive."

Leo, Donnie, and Raph gasped, then they smiled and raced to his brother's side. They truly saw the life in the child once more. However, it was just a child. Nothing having to do with a fox was seen on her. Mikey stood up with her in his arms and smiled, shedding tears of joy. Turning to his brothers, he said, "Let's go home."

* * *

While Donnie tended to Leo's leg wound and Raph tended to Splinter, who had awoken while they were gone, Mikey sat by his bed with Rinji tucked under the sheets, laying comfortably in deep sleep. He felt relieved every time he saw her chest rise and fall slowly and evenly. He held her tiny hand and squeezed.

He heard footsteps entering his room, but he didn't need to turn around to know it was his family. Leo was in crutches with his damaged leg bandaged down to his knee, Raph had an IV in his hand to refill himself of fluids, and Donnie, who had bandages around his head and mid-chest, supported a slightly dizzy Splinter from the pressure point.

"How is she?" Leo asked.

"Still asleep," Mikey replied softly.

"It still amazes me that she's alive again," Donnie whispered.

"You and me both," Raphael nodded.

Michelangelo turned to his brainiac brother. "When do you think she'll wake up?"

Donnie shrugged. "I have no idea, Mikey. Maybe later today, maybe tomorrow. I know, I want her to wake up, too."

"We just need to be patient," Splinter said.

Mikey slightly frowned. "You think she remembers...you know...all that happened?" he mumbled. Splinter laid a hand on his son's head.

"Worry not, my son. She is alive. She will awaken soon." Mikey held his hand and nuzzled it. Splinter sensed the exhaustion in his four sons. "You four need rest. You have been through a lot this evening." Now feeling better, he helped Donnie take Leo and Raph to their beds. Mikey crawled into his bed trying not to disturb his sleeping friend, slipped under the covers, rested a hand on Rinji's chest, and dozed off.

* * *

The orange-clad turtle's slumber was disrupted by a stir in his bed. He sleepily opened one eye; what caught his eye fully aroused him, and he slowly yet eagerly sat up.

The girl sat on the edge of the bed, her back facing Mikey. She gazed around her, as if trying to remember where she was. She raised one hand to her her head and let out a gasp. She realized her ears were gone. Then she turned around to see if her tail was still there; it wasn't. But she did see the turtle. She stared into his cyan eyes with her brown ones. She knew those eyes, just like they knew hers. She turned towards him and crawled across the bed over to Mikey.

Mikey sat up straighter and got on his knees, the girl did the same. He opened his mouth, but all that came out was a squeak. He tried again: "R-...Rinji...?"

She tilted her head to the side. Then she smiled sweetly and hugged him. Mikey trembled and wrapped his arms around her.

"Phoebe."

Mikey gasped at the sudden voice; it was high, and young. He looked down at the girl, and she looked back up. She opened her mouth. "My...name...is Phoebe." She seemed as shocked as he was. She clasped one hand to her throat and the other over her mouth. She had the ability to speak again. They both smiled slowly.

"You...you're alive...Phoebe," Mikey choked as tears filled his eyes. The little girl nodded, then they pulled one another into a hug. Later Mikey carried the girl named Phoebe out of his room and into the living area, where his siblings were all watching TV. She gasped aloud to see the rest of her friends, and they heard her. Leo, Donnie and Raph turned around to see their baby brother holding a familiar girl in his arms, both wearing cheeky smiles.

"Rinji!" they exclaimed. Mikey had to go to them since Splinter forbade them from moving until they had recuperated enough. They each gave the girl a tight hug, and she kissed them on the cheek.

"Her name is Phoebe, by the way," Mikey informed them.

"Phoebe," Donnie repeated. "That's a pretty name."

Phoebe giggled and beamed a smile.

Raph chuckled and rubbed her head. "Hey, no more fox ears or tail!"

Phoebe shook her head. "No more! All gone!"

Leo nodded. "Yup, just like Master Splinter said: with Kuragari's death would she have her humanity back."

"And since she was killed when she was in her fox formation, that's the part of her that ended up dying, and not her human side," Donnie added. "That's why she's alive!"

"The mean warlock's gone?" Phoebe asked. "The meanie who took my mommy?"

The turtles sadly nodded; for her mother's sake, that is. Phoebe looked sad for a second, then she grinned. "Goody. Now my mommy can rest peacefully." The mutants chuckled.

Mikey scooped her up and tickled her tummy. "I'm just so glad to have my wittle fwiend back!" Phoebe squirmed and squealed giggles in his arms. Then she saw Splinter enter the living area.

"Splinter!"

The humanoid rodent grinned. "Welcome back, young one."

"My name is Phoebe. I remembered my name!" she beamed.

"That is excellent news, dear child," Sensei said. "And you have your voice. How are you feeling?"

Phoebe then wore a sad smile. "I am a bit sad."

Mikey was a bit surprised. "Why are you sad?"

"Because I can't stay."

The mutants were a bit confused. Then she added, turning to the rodent, "You said once I was well, you would find me a home. And I am well." The turtles glanced at the floor. She was right.

Splinter sighed and slowly nodded. "Yes...I did say that."

Mikey blurted out in a hurry, "We could take care of her!"

Splinter shook his head. "I am afraid not, my son. She must be raised in the hands of humans now that she is one. She cannot stay here and live with us." Mikey's heart shattered; he sat Phoebe on the floor, sat on the couch and cried in his hands. Phoebe's smile dropped and glanced at the other turtles; they looked sad as well. She sat next to Mikey and rubbed his shoulder.

"Don't be sad," she said. "We'll always be friends. No matter what." She smiled warmly and rested her head on his shoulder, clutching his arm, nuzzling it.

Mikey sniffled and wipe his eyes. "I-I know...I would still like you to stay with us."

"You heard Splinter," Phoebe sighed. "I can't stay. If I could I would, but if he thinks I need to stay with a human family, then I should."

Mikey shuddered. He asked her full of hope, "Come and visit us?"

Phoebe smiled. "Whenever I can."

* * *

~one month later~

Splinter had found the perfect couple who would take excellent care of Phoebe, and they lived only a block away from the lair. They were the Lawrences, Joanne and Neil. "They are lovely people," Splinter said. "They have a large kitchen and living space, a balcony, and they work at home. They said they are excited to meet you." Today was the morning Phoebe would meet them, and they would take her to their apartment.

Splinter told the Lawrences Phoebe would be waiting by Central Park for them to come and pick her up, and the mutants poked their heads out of a gutter to keep an eye on her until they got there. Mikey cried that whole day; he was happy for Phoebe, but he was sad that he couldn't keep her.

Phoebe saw their car pull up and she glanced down the sewer drain. She smiled and briefly waved. They all waved back. "Bye," she whispered.

Mikey quivered. "B-Bye..." he whispered back. Then, a woman with frizzy red hair came out of the car and hugged Phoebe, and so did a man in a wealthy suit. He asked her if he was ready to go home with them. She said yes, and they helped her into their car. She looked out the window at them. Shedding a tear or two, she smiled at them with her bottom lip quivering. The mutants did the same. They stayed in the drain until the car vanished from their sight.

"Bye...Rinji..." Mikey sobbed. Raph hugged him and let him cry in the crook of his neck; the brokenhearted turtle cried the whole journey back to the lair.

* * *

Mikey laid in his bed sleepily that night. He wanted to sleep, but he couldn't. His mind was focused on something else. He let tears flow from the corner of his eyes, drenching his pillow as he thought of his friend. He managed a smile, imagining her playing and laughing with her new parents. He knew she would be happy.

Mikey suddenly became hungry. He slipped from his bed and trudged to the kitchen. He stopped in his tracks once he saw someone sitting at the table in a chair facing him. He slowly smiled.

"Told ya I'd come to visit."

**THE END. **


End file.
